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Berkeley takes pride as parade approaches

Mike Dinoffria Special to the Berkeley Daily Planet
Thursday June 20, 2002

Berkeley is honoring one of the area’s openly gay politicians while declaring June “Pride Month.” 

“Berkeley is long over due to have its first lesbian elected to office,” said District 5 Council member, Kriss Worthington, an openly gay council member.  

Rebecca Kaplan of the Alameda County Transit Board was the first person representing Berkeley on the board to say she was a lesbian. The proclamation to recognize Kaplan was unanimously approved by city council at its meeting last week. 

The decree authorizes city manager Weldon Rucker to fly a “pride flag,” which will be done with Kaplan watching at 10 a.m. June 29 at Civic Center Park.  

The event is scheduled one day before San Francisco’s Pride Parade, a celebration on June 30 to which many East Bay residents contribute. 

For many, the flag raising will be a precursor to the Pride Parade a range of other gay pride events scheduled this summer. 

“We are really looking forward to marching again in the SF Pride Parade,” said U.C. Berkeley student Justin Wong. “It is a great opportunity to show off the diversity that is Cal.”  

Berkeley does not have its own Pride Parade. 

“Probably half the people participating in the (San Francisco) parade live in the East Bay,” said East Bay Pride founder and president Pete King. “We feel we don't need a parade, because we feel we already have one.”  

Also coinciding with the Pride Parade in San Francisco next weekend, Out of the Closet clothing store is scheduled to open July 3 on the corner of University Avenue and California Street. Proceeds from sales of Out of the Closet stores will be donated to the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which provides low-cost healthcare for those living with HIV.  

The “Merchandise is (comprised of) all donations. People are happy to donate,” said store manager Najib Benhaddou. “We accept everything.” The bright pink store in Berkeley is the first of its kind in Northern California. Another store is scheduled to open by July in San Francisco. 

In August and September East Bay Pride will hold its own event. The Sixth Annual East Bay LGBTI Pride Festival is two weeks of activities scheduled to start Aug. 22 with Lighting of the Lake. To celebrate the organization’s sixth anniversary, the colors of the lights will be the six colors of the rainbow. The schedule has not been announced yet, but will include concerts, dances and theater events. 

Later on, Berkeley will hold a Rainbow Pride Brunch on Labor Day. Worthington is enthusiastic about the diversity of the luncheons in the past four annual brunch events that drew “lesbians, gays and bi(sexual)s all together.”