Organizers for Seattle's gay pride events have decided to scrap the festival but keep the parade. Seattle Out and Proud, which is $102,000 in debt to the city, originally voted to cancel the entire celebration, file for bankruptcy, and dissolve, the Seattle Times reported Wednesday.
The announcement to keep the parade came after a vote on Tuesday, hours after the decision was announced to shelve the entire observance. According to the report, board member Troy Campbell said that community support persuaded the board to go ahead with the parade.
"We feel the parade should go on as planned," he told the Times. "It is something that has always turned a profit and that will allow us to chip away at the debt and not walk away from it."
Out and Proud's staff consists of a dozen volunteers, with no paid employees, and the group rents an office for storage.
Seattle has had an annual pride celebration since 1975. It was originally held in Seattle's Volunteer Park, with a parade along Broadway in the city's predominately gay neighborhood, Capitol Hill. The festivities were moved to Seattle Center and the parade to the downtown area to increase exposure. Last year an estimated 200,000 people attended the events. (The Advocate)
