The Second Annual Harvey Milk Festival is set up to be bigger and better than its debut last year when it takes over the Rosemary District May 20-22. The festival is aligned with ceremonies and celebrations across the nation to raise awareness about LGBT civil rights on state and federal levels. Admission is free.
The weekend long celebration begins at 7 p.m., Friday, May 20, with an art exhibit showcasing themes of equality. The art will be displayed at The Red Panty Press where Ciera Galbraith will serve as curator. Galbraith has worked for more than two years as Gallery Director of The University of Florida Reitz Union Art Gallery. In her free time, she loves graphic artwork, photography, and playing music with her band, Cassolette.
On Saturday, May 21, a street festival featuring vendors and speakers begins at 2 p.m. in the 1300 block of 5th Street. The festival runs until 10 p.m.
Among those invited to speak at the annual Harvey Milk Day Festival is Joe Saunders of Equality Florida. Saunders has a background in grassroots activism and state-level organizing and serves as the organization's Field Director. He is responsible for leading the organization's grassroots and electoral organizing programs.
Author Todd Kachinski-Kottmeier is also scheduled to appear. Last year, he served as emcee and guest speaker and told the festival he left a changed man. This year the prolific writer took initiative in the Stop Bullying campaign while writing â┚¬Å”The Official Drag Handbookâ┚¬Â and manning the charitable site Million Hugs.com.
Festival organizer Shannon Fortner told Watermark that she hopes to attract LGBTs and those outside the LGBT community to the weekend-long celebration.
â┚¬Å”We'd like support from the American community as a whole,â┚¬Â she said. â┚¬Å”We need everyone to be part of the movement, not just the gay population.â┚¬ÂÂ
For five years, Fortner has been in a relationship with her partner, Kelly, but the two have been forced to live apart due to immigration laws. Kelly is from the United Kingdom and current marriage laws in the United States prevent Fortner from sponsoring her so they can live as a couple. Fortner does have some hope, however, that the Uniting American Families Act currently in Congress will pass and change the laws.
â┚¬Å”Harvey Milk focused on the community as a whole, while creating a safe place for the queer community to be themselves,â┚¬Â Fortner said, when asked about what people should take from the festival. â┚¬Å”He cleaned up his district. He was a sounding board for equality and justice. He was a tremendous advocate of a world where people, gay or straight, would no longer need to live in fear.â┚¬ÂÂ
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