Bisbee Pride 2013

Bisbee, AZ

Bisbee Pride

Bisbee’s first real Pride Festival occurred Father’s Day Weekend in 2005. It began when a small group of people got together and started discussing what could be done to bring people to town in the summer. As most of the organizers were gay, they thought that a Pride celebration in Bisbee would be a great way to show off the town, the town’s diversity and its acceptance of others. They chose Father’s Day weekend since at the time there were no conflicting Pride celebrations in the state. What started as a small celebration of mostly local gay men and lesbians has today grown into a gay pride festival bringing hundreds of people from around the country with some attendees even coming from other countries. When they arrive they find that small town of Bisbee (population 6,000) is not only accepting of gay people, but the city council has passed the first and only civil union ordinance in the state of Arizona.

An important aspect of the work done by Bisbee Pride centers around support of our community. A primary goal of Bisbee Pride is to operate as a community service organization, supporting various needs in our community. Bisbee has always been a city of great diversity, and Bisbee Pride is committed to working both exclusively and in conjunction with other organizations to continue this legacy. Over the years Bisbee Pride has provided community support in various ways – through direct donations, volunteer labor, and other kinds of support.

Bisbee Pride also works to encourage, celebrate, champion, and support the rights and freedoms of the southeastern Arizona Pride Community (meaning gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, other same sex attracted people and those that support them), as well as provide educational outreach to the community at large.

One of the ways that Bisbee Pride contributes to the community is by providing funds to clients of The Ryan White Program. The Ryan White Program is federally funded to provide services to people infected with HIV/AIDS. Their scope of services include; Medical Case Management, Emergency Housing and Utility Assistance, Nutrition Assistance, Mental Health Services, Oral Health Care and Medical Transportation Assistance. However, due to the fact that they are a federally funded program they have strict guidelines as to how they can assist people. Bisbee Pride donations have allowed them to help in non-traditional ways such as buying a bicycle for a client so he could get to work and paying a veterinarian bill for a cherished pet. We have also purchased a set of used tires so a single mother could get to her doctor appointments. Twice we have purchased kitchen utensils for someone moving into their own apartments for the first time.