Rainbow connection --
It takes a village
Everyone is welcome
at Pride weekend
You don't have to
be gay to enjoy Pride weekend
By SHANNON MULLEN.
Gannett NJ. Pulse Online from thnt.com June 2, 2006
Asbury Park, NJ -- It's not on
the official schedule of events for New Jersey's 15th annual Statewide Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered and Intersexed Pride Celebration in Asbury Park
Sunday, but a party at a heterosexual couple's Fifth Avenue home has become a
tradition for the hundreds of people who attend it every year.
Bill and Patsy Resnick, whose front porch provides a prime viewing location for
the parade that kicks off the daylong Pride festival and the entertainment that
follows, started hosted the gathering five years ago, not long after moving to
the city.
"We just casually told everybody to stop by and watch from our porch, and it
blossomed from there," says Patsy, 61, who felt drawn to the city, in part,
because of its ethnic and cultural diversity.
Since then, the couple's group of gay friends has steadily expanded, and their
informal get-together has become "the biggest party in town" during Pride
weekend, says Rod Siberine, 41, of Asbury Park, who is on the board of
AP/Action, a local grassroots group that fosters political involvement within
the gay and lesbian community.
"I just think it's fantastic that it's a straight couple in town" that's hosting
the party, he says.
Technically, you need to be invited; it's not an open house. "My house is
not big enough for that!" Patsy emphasizes. But friends bring friends, who
soon become friends. The Resnicks, who are using this year's party as a
fundraiser for Asbury Park Volleyball, a local league, are that kind of couple.
"We've just been so fortunate to meet so many wonderful people, so, you give
back," Patsy says. "I just want to support all my friends."
If the weather cooperates Sunday, the crowd at the Pride Celebration — and on
the Resnicks' front porch — could be the biggest yet. About 15,000 people
attended the event last year, says organizer Laura Pople, and this year's
festival, which is sponsored by Bank of America, is being headlined by the
Village People, who are scheduled to perform around 3:30 p.m. on the festival
grounds at Fifth and Ocean avenues.
Other highlights of the event include a display of the NAMES Project AIDS
Memorial Quilt; entertainment by Christine Martucci, the Glamazons, Lisa Jackson
+ Girl Friday and April Smith; a "family zone," sponsored by Prudential
Financial, featuring clowns, games and rides for children, and a street festival
for the "leather" community outside the Cruisin' nightclub on Kingsley Street.
In addition, various venues throughout the city are sponsoring gay pride-related
events all weekend.
"There's something for everybody," says Pople, president of Jersey Pride Inc., a
gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex advocacy group based in New
Brunswick that has sponsored the annual Pride event in Asbury Park since 1992.
NOON TO 7:PM, RAIN OR SHINE
Fifth and Ocean Avenue, Asbury Park -– FREE
732 214-2965
Related events taking place throughout Asbury Park all weekend.
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