Archives > McKinney Courier-Gazette > News
Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
RSS
Share
Inauguration: Gay community hosts first-time Collin County event
By Marthe Stinton, mstinton@acnpapers.com
Collin County has been known to have a little something for everyone, but one group of the community has been waiting for an event tailored specifically for them. Thanks to a group of friends and supporters, that is about to happen.
The "Come as you are Party" has been billed as Collin County's inaugural gay pride event. Tim Phillips and his partner, Morris Garcia, are organizing the event and hope to bring a little more awareness and support to a growing community in Collin County,
"Morris has been the president of Collin County Gay and Lesbian Alliance for about six years and his term, or what I like to call his reign of terror, is about to end at the end of this month. That's where the idea started," Phillips said.
"We decided that it was time for it to happen," he said. "People felt like it was unattainable or they felt like the opposition would be too great. It is a very scary idea to try to pull this event off. There have been times that I have felt pangs of fear that 'oh my gosh we are actually going to do this.' I think that has been the biggest reason is that no one thought it could happen. It doesn't have to be a huge event but it needs to happen and can grow from there."
Morris and Phillips established a Facebook page for the event and have 55 confirmed guests and more than 75 that may be attending.
"I am amazed how this is snowballing," Phillips said. "It's becoming bigger than expected. If that number grows I will be amazed. I expect it to be around 100 over the course of the evening."
Phillips said he hopes the event will turn into something celebrated annually. McKinney, he said, has become a little more liberal than what it used to be, making it the perfect location for the event.
"We think McKinney is the best location since it's the county seat," he said. "We would like to be able to reach anyone living in the smaller towns throughout the county that are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender or their supporters."
Rosemarie Jean Odem is the president and co-founder of Community Unity Respect Education, Inc (CURE), a 501c3 non-profit organization that brings the AIDS Memorial Quilt to venues across north Texas as a memorial and a tool to better educate the community about HIV/AIDS. Odem said an event like this can be a win-win for the community as a whole, bringing together both sides.
"I think it will be good to show the community that their citizens are of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community," Odem said. "We want to gain support of the straight community as well. Mayor Dyer in Plano has been a friend and ally for some of our events and a lot of the respective candidates for Plano, McKinney and Frisco have come to meet with us. We are building bridges."
Phillips said he understood that the event could be deemed as controversial to some but hopes to see the city's spirit of community shine for the event.
"I'm hoping the community embraces this and supports it," he said. "I partially expect there to be some negative response to it. There could be some opposition because, after all, every time I have been to a gay pride event in Dallas there has been a small group of protestors so I wouldn't be shocked."
Odem agreed.
"That's just the deal in life," she said. "You will have people that are with you and you will have people who don't understand but we do our best to educate people. Education is the only way we can overcome those types of thoughts. You will never be able to be liked by everyone. We don't want any physical harm done to anyone but you can't do much about those who don't understand."
Off-duty police officers will be on hand to ensure safety of those in attendance.
"I realize that Collin County, especially Plano, is a conservative city but I believe the attitude and opinions of the majority of people has changed," Phillips said. "I hope this is a well-received event and that everyone who wants to come will come out and have a good time."
The event is family-friendly complete with a deejay and live band. There will be a $5 donation at the door and all proceed will go toward the 50-50 raffle and CURE.
"This year marks the 30th anniversary of the actual diagnosis of HIV," Phillips said. "So CURE is doing a huge display in September to recognize the anniversary. Over 800 panels of the quilt will be on display for free from September through October. We wanted to help make sure they had the money to do it."
The Business Network of Collin County (BNCC) will have vendors on hand to make the event a success.
"I don't want it to happen quietly, but I want it to be positive for the city, community and for the those who attend," Phillip said.
The following are comments from the readers.
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
You must register with a valid email to post comments.
Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Registered users sign in here:
Become a Registered User
- Return to: News «
- Home «
- Top of Page ^
