More than 4,000 attended the Tucson Pride event last weekend at Reid Park. It was a glorious cloudless day for the Parade which began at 11am, and the Festival in the park which lasted all afternoon.
The most notable character in the parade was the actor Jordan Ross Siebert, who will star in February 2020 in the musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Fully decked out in his Hedwig persona, Siebert relished the attention which was well deserved. Theatre goers should watch for this performance at the Cabaret Space, 330 S Scott Ave next year.
The Festival featured dozens of booths ranging from the political (Tucson city Ward 2 council member Paul Cunningham was there) to the outrageous (there was a kinky tent with demonstrations of such things as mummification). More mainstream was a booth by jewelry artist Mindy Winnick who was selling wrap-around bracelets of macrame and beading that incorporate Japanese kimono chords.
Winnick used to own a gallery in Santa Fe featuring Native American artworks, but she sold that in 1996. Ever since she has had “time to explore artistic capabilities” which has led her to create unique jewelry. Winnick has been making the bracelets for 4 years, and was appearing at the Pride Festival as a vendor for the first time. You can check out her offerings at Mindys88Jewels.etsy.com
The Pima County Public Library was at the Festival promoting their LGBTQ+ Services Committee. They host a Rainbow Read (a queer reading circle) every 3rd Sunday of the month at Exo Roast Co., 403 N 6th Ave. On Oct. 16 Jacob Tobia will be talking about his coming of gender story at the Murphy-Wilmot Library, at 6pm. Check out their website: library.pima.gov/lgbtq
For more about gay festivities in Tucson visit the website TucsonPride.org, the organisation that sponsored the Pride in the Desert event on Sept. 28, 2019.
