Omaha’s Heartland Pride aims to build bridges with LGBT allies

A rainbow of color will file through Omaha's Old Market on Saturday morning as part of this year's Heartland Pride parade, the culmination to a weekend of activities and entertainment.

The annual LGBT celebration includes a variety of events, beginning with the Harvey Milk candlelight vigil on Thursday and ending with the parade and festival on Saturday.

Royal D. Bush, this year's Heartland Pride president, said the Pride activities give the area's LGBTQA community a place to go for free entertainment and information.

"It's a place where the entire community comes together — regardless of orientations — to celebrate the diversity that lies within each of us," he said in an email.

Pride festivals and events have been held in many cities across the country since the gay rights movement gained momentum in the 1970s following the Stonewall riots in 1969. A lot has changed since then — gay marriage is now recognized in five states, including Iowa.

But those involved with the movement for LGBT equal rights believe there is still a long way to go. That's where Pride events come in: They aim to bring people together and build bridges with others, both within and without the LGBT community.

"The LGBT community has no chance of ever achieving equal rights, or ending DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act), or passing ENDA (Employment Non-Discrimination Act), without the help of others. We simply don't have the votes," said Bush, who has been an activist and volunteer since the late '80s. "We need to do what the politicians can't seem to do: reach across and extend a hand to others and ask for their help, find united ground and grow forward to achieve common goals. We don't have time to place blame — it is time to move forward."

That is why Heartland Pride organizers have been working to build a more regional sense of unity instead of focusing on a single event in a single city.

Steven Sorensen, secretary and a founding member of Heartland Pride, said Nebraska hopes to learn more from states like Iowa, which passed a bill making same-sex marriage legal in April of 2009.

"There are a lot of basic initiatives that need to be passed before we get to where Iowa is," he said.

Their initiatives would include basic protection rights in housing and jobs, Sorensen added.

"It's been a long 30 years since we've been dealing with HIV/AIDS, and we acknowledge we have more to do."

Part of that movement is looking to the future of the LGBT community. Many area Gay-Straight Alliance organizations will participate in the events. The Pride Players, a group of Omaha high schoolers who perform various bits of theater exploring issues facing LGBT youth, are this year's Pride Parade Grand Marshals.

"They are our future, and they have incredible talent and ideas to offer," Sorensen said.

And as they look forward, Pride organizers are working to mold and improve the Pride experience to keep up with the changing social dynamics.

"Pride needs to catch up with reality, the rest of the world and ourselves to be a current, effective and useful tool for our communities across the country," said Bush, an Interfaith Chaplain with Inclusive Life in Omaha. "It is time to build bridges with our allies, not walls."

Bush said he and other organizers aim to make the event "more than a stereotypical beer garden and drag show."

"Our communities are too rich with talent not to offer inclusive options for entertainment, marketing and information for all."

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