Pagan Pride 2007
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e-mail: webmaster@officersofavalon.com |
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To contact us: |
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Pagan Pride expanded to 74 events
involving 17,494 people in 2001, 106 events involving 31,506 people in 2002,
and 117 events in 2003. |
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Dispatches: Volume 1 No. 6 Samhain/Calan Gaef/Einherjar 2006 |
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This is the tenth anniversary of the Pagan Pride
Project, which was founded in 1997 by Cecylyna Dewr of the Pagan Awareness
League (PAL). During her time as a
member of PAL, Cecylyna proposed a formal program to the PAL membership and
director to facilitate celebrations of Pagan Pride on a local level to be
called Pagan Pride Day. Her proposal
included the three elements that were to become the central core of what has
become the Pagan Pride Project: -a public ritual or celebration open to Pagans,
non-Pagans, passersby, and onlookers; -press releases and public relations activities
designed to encourage positive media portrayal of Pagans and Paganism; and -a food and materials drive for a local charity, food
bank, shelter, or refuge, to symbolize both Pagan responsibilities to their
town, city, or state and in honor of the various Thanksgiving holidays common
to most Pagan traditions held around Fall Equinox. While many Pagan Pride Day celebrations have included
more than this, every celebration ever held as a part of the Pagan Pride
Project has included at least two, if not all, of these elements. The first ever Pagan Pride Day was held on
September 19, 1998. There were 18
celebrations held that first year, 17 in the United States and 1 in
Canada. By 1999 this had expanded to
43 events, involving 4589 people who collected 4715 pounds of food and goods
for local food banks. In 2000 there
were 54 events involving over 9000 people who collected 8,671 pounds of food
and goods and $4,961.11 cash for local charities. This expanded to 74 events involving 17,494
people in 2001, 106 events involving 31,506 people in 2002, and 117 events in
2003. You can click on their logo (above) to go to the Pagan Pride
International website. I did presentations at the Pagan Pride Days in Nanaimo
and Vancouver, BC as well as the Central Puget Sound PPD in Tukwila, WA, this
year. Kerr Cuhulain |
