By Maggie Downs
The Cincinnati Enquirer

With gay rights the subject of many debates this election year, more than 4,000 people came out to show their support for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community during the final day of the Cincinnati Pride 2004 march and festival.

The celebration began Saturday with a party in Northside.

Participants in the 2004 Cincinnati Pride Parade marched from Burnett Woods Park to Northside, where activities culminated in a festival. (Sarah Conard photo)

On Sunday, marchers - in wheelchairs, on skates, scooters, bikes, in cars and on foot - traveled from Burnet Woods in Clifton to Hoffner Park in Northside. A supportive crowd lined the streets, clapping and waving colorful flags and balloons.

"It's a good chance, for one time out of the year, for this community to be visible," said Miranda Heidler, 16, of Northside.

Visibility is the most important side effect of the parade, agreed Kathy Laufman, the co-chair of Cincinnati's Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.

"The issues of the community are so often hidden," she said. "And to take that one step further, usually the youth most of all are invisible."

At the parade, people are safe to feel happy with themselves, she said.

"You can come here, whoever you are, and you will be accepted."

Laufman was the first straight person to serve as grand marshal of the parade in the event's history.

"As a gay-supportive person, I'm honored," she said. "This shows how much we're all growing to support the issues."

Many participants used the event to discuss such issues as the climate for gay people in Cincinnati.

"Gay rights is a non-issue in Cincinnati. The treatment of people perceived as non-heterosexual here is atrocious," said Kyle Smith, 20, president of the Xavier University Gay-Straight Alliance.

"Especially in a conservative town like Cincinnati, others make people try to feel ashamed for who they are," added Miko Caporale, 17, of Clifton.

Smith, like many at the festival, brought up Cincinnati's Article XII, a charter amendment that prohibits the city from . granting special class status based on sexual orientation.

Many political types, like the "Greg Harris for Congress" people, were out in full force. Harris is challenging Rep. Steve Chabot for Ohio's 1st Congressional District seat. City councilman David Crowley and his supporters also worked the crowd.

Other participants in the festival included Stonewall Cincinnati, Planned Parenthood and the Know Theater Tribe, as well as music, food and games.

But overwhelmingly, many people turned out simply to be a part of the crowd.

"I like being here, if for no other reason than I can watch my friends walk hand-in-hand without being on guard and wondering what someone will say," Smith said.

Willie Goins, 17, of Fairfield, had a similar simple wish.

"I wanted to be with other people like me," he said. "I just want to be accepted."

And for some, like Sir Michael Simpson Warren of Golf Manor, the road there was much longer than the parade route.

"I'm 40 years old," he said. "For the first time in my life, I want to be who I really am."

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E-mail mdowns@enquirer.com