Gay community's Pride Festival has big turnout

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10363898

Published Sunday June 22, 2008
Gay community's Pride Festival has big turnout
BY LIZ STINSON
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Dan Knobbe dreams of a day when gays and lesbians can walk down the street hand in hand and nobody bats an eye.

"Ideally, I'd like to see two people who are able to share affection the same as a man and a woman and the reaction would be, 'Isn't that romantic?' " he said.

The people who walked Saturday through downtown Omaha in the annual Nebraska GLBT Pride Parade offered a beacon of hope for Knobbe. He is president of Rainbow Celebrations, a nonprofit organization that supports the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.

Knobbe said more than 30 floats and more than 300 people took part in the parade, a far cry from the 10 to 20 who participated in the first pride parade 23 years ago.

"During the first years, there were like 10 people because everyone was afraid," said Joseph Hoagbin, a member of First Unitarian Church who walked in the parade. "People decided they needed to be seen and stand up and support one another, and now look at this, it's so incredible, you see people from everywhere in Omaha."

The group made its way down 10th Street, holding signs that read "Love conquers hate" and singing along to Bill Withers' "Lean on Me."


FULL story at link.