Donaciano says thanks

This is my praise to the almost 50 people who took time out from their busy lives to either post comments on the official blog for Denver PrideFest or to contact me via La Gente Unida email regarding the recent criticism that somebody raised against me and other 1960s activists.

My ongoing neurological illness poses time constraints that do not allow me to respond to each of you individually, so please accept this big THANK YOU as my deep appreciation for your recent kind comments in support of me and other 1960s activists. My thanks are also extended to the person who raised the criticism. Part of our activism in the 1960s and 1970s was that criticism and self-criticism were always encouraged. It is noteworthy that the points raised in the recent criticism are nothing new. Activists from the 1960s era oftentimes are denounced by critics for having spent too much time protesting the war, but people do not realize that in those days the U.S. war against Vietnam was THE pressing issue of the time because it was unjust and the millions being spent on that war greatly impacted much-needed funds for programs to battle poverty, racism, discrimination, etc., here in the U.S. There is now a repeat of that situation with the modern-day U.S. unjust war against Iraq, where billions are being spent while U.S. social programs and the U.S. economy are in bad shape. Goddess only knows what it will take for the U.S. war makers to ever make the connections on issues that are quite obvious and not that complicated to grasp. One does not need to take a Dale Carnegie course to know that wasteful spending in one area will eventually impact the nation's economy. The modern-day bumper sticker, "Books Not Bombs" comes to mind.

In response to several inquiries to me, Drew's taped interview with me was much longer and covered more issues than what is posted on the PrideFest website. As a professional journalist and longtime La Gente Unida ally, Drew transcribed and posted the most relevant aspects that pertain to the specific subject matter of early Pride events in Denver. He did a great job of capturing the substance of everything shared by me with him during the interview. It is good that journalists like Drew are taking time to contact me now that my memory functions are acute because there may come a day when my memory lessens due to brain impact from my ongoing neurological illness. Someday my response could be "What was PrideFest?" In the course of the interview, my memories of early Pride events also included the following:

(1) The Coors boycott resulted in a physical confrontation at the June 1977 Pride event. That controversial boycott (in both the Chicano community and the GLBT community in the 1970s) was noted by me as being PART of the reason that two activists, Jerry Gerash and Cara Heller (whose Asian name was Noriko Nakano), were the targets of a 1977 effort to remove them from the board of the Gay Community Center. [The community center name did not add the "Lesbian" word until the early 1980s, the "Bisexual" word did not get added until the 1990s, and the "Transgender" word did not get added until the mid 2000s.] In addition to the stormy recall effort stemming partly from the Coors boycott incident at the 1977 Pride event, board member Cara was targeted for being "too feminist" by urging male board members to use gender-inclusive words. [Just as Coors has been the main corporate sponsor of PrideFest the past few years, Coors is the main corporate sponsor of this year's PrideFest in Denver.]

(2) My memories also included the 1978 Pride event that was co-organized by my activist friend Kevin Barlow. Building upon issues raised by lesbian feminists and radical men at the 1977 event, the June 1978 event was officially called the "Lesbian and Gay Freedom March." The official Coordinators of the 1978 event were Shel Anderson of the Imperial Court and Tea Schook, a former lesbian separatist who joined the Gay Community Center board after the 1977 stormy recall effort to evict Jerry and Cara from the board. Once again learning from the 1977 event at which lesbian feminists insisted that drag queens walk in their high heels instead of comfortably riding in vehicles at the march, the 1978 march allowed only two (2) vehicles. Kevin obtained the City permit, which was noted by me in the interview as costing only $4.00 in 1978 in stark contrast to nowadays when the permit is an astronomical sum on top of obtaining thousands of dollars of insurance for the Denver march. [The inexpensive 1978 permit is still in the historical records section of my filing cabinet at home.]

(3) When Drew asked me to share my most memorable PrideFest event in Denver, my response was the June 1999 Pride event that commemorated the 30-year anniversary of the notorious Stonewall Riots that sparked the second wave of struggle for gay and lesbian rights. Grand marshals of the June 1999 Pride event were lesbian activist pioneers Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, Denver Mattachine Society pioneers (Elver Barker and three others), and me (as 1969 co-founder of the Gay Liberation Front in Colorado Springs). As related to Drew, among my memory of that June 1999 event was an incident that occurred when the mile-long march reached Civic Center Park. Once we got there, my extreme thirst prompted me to ask a young gay man where to get a drink of water. Upon informing me that bottled water was being sold at numerous booths, my reply was that a simple drinking fountain would suffice. The young man snapped at me and said: "Nothing in this park is free. If you want something free, then go somewhere else." When the young man learned my status as an elder and grand marshal, he shook my hand and announced that he was the Event Coordinator. Embarrassed by how he had spoken to me two minutes prior, he became very apologetic and fetched three (3) bottles of water for me at no charge. That memorable incident captured the degree to which PrideFest has placed too much emphasis on charging participants for everything, even a sip of water for an elder like me seeking to quench my thirst after leading thousands of people in a mile-long march.

Once again, many thanks to those who understand the issues and continue to stand up for peace and justice in your respective communities.

In Peace and Solidarity,
Donaciano Martinez