1:35pm | Every year, Long Beach puts on one of the best Pride Festivals in the world. In addition this year, Long Beach is proud to host The InterPride 2010 Conference. Frank Rubio and Ken Davis recently attended the Annual “Creating Change” Conference in Dallas and signed up many LGBT activists and organizers who are interested in coming to Long Beach in October. Frank Rubio is one of the InterPride Regional Directors, representing the states of Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah.
InterPride, the international network of Pride organizations, holds an annual conference each October. This conference provides the opportunity for organizers to network and to attend various workshops and seminars to improve your events and strengthen their own organization.
InterPride was founded 1982 in Boston, MA as the National Association of Lesbian and Gay Pride Coordinators. In the fall of 1982 representatives from about half a dozen US Pride Organizations gathered together to network. Since then, an annual conference has been held, in a different city and attendance has steadily grown.
As the movement for LGBT rights grew, so have Pride Events and the need for a global organization like InterPride. The 2001 conference, held in Auckland, New Zealand was the first one held in the southern hemisphere and the Prime Minister welcomed the delegates. The 2003 conference in Montréal, Canada was the first time a conference was held in a city where English was not the primary language. Last year’s conference was held in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Most recently, InterPride made history with their sponsorship of A PRIDE House at the 2010 Winter Games, in partnership with other organizations such as GLISA (The Gay & Lesbian International Sports Association). PRIDE House will be open from February 8th through to March 21st and will take in three incredible events: The Olympics (Feb. 12-28), WinterPRIDE in Whistler (Mar. 1-8), and the Paralympics (Mar. 12-21).