HOLLAND, MI (WHTC) – The 12th Annual Holland-Area Pride is the weekend of June 24 and 25th, 2016.
This year the festival will be an indoor celebration with films being screened over two days. The festival aims at raising money to create an LGBT resource center. The weekend kicks off with a 7 p.m. showing of the film “Prodigal Sons” at the Park Theatre in downtown Holland. The 2008 film features filmmaker Kimberly Reed returning home for her high school reunion, ready to reintroduce herself to the small town as a transgender woman and hoping for reconciliation with her long estranged adopted brother Marc.
Saturday morning at 11 a.m. at the Holland Civic Center, the compelling film “Matthew Shepard is a Friend of Mine.” will be featured. The film is about University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard who was brutally beaten on 1998, tied to a fence and left to die because he was gay. Years later, Michele Josue, a close friend of Matt’s, revisits the shocking case with never-before-seen photos, rare video footage, as Matt’s all-too-brief life is remembered through the vivid testimonies of those whose lives he touched.
At 3 p.m. on Saturday Benjamin Bratt stars in “La Mission” which is about a single-parent ex-con in a tough, minority neighborhood finds his personal values challenged when he discovers his son is gay. At 6 p.m. that evening, dinner from Margarita’s will be available for purchase with an evening showing of the movie “The Imitation Game” at 7 p.m. at the Holland Civic Center. This film takes place during World War III with mathematician Alan Turing trying to crack the enigma code with help from fellow mathematicians.
All films are free and a silent auction will be running throughout the event. They are seeking volunteers as well.
OUT on the Lakeshore is a new collaborative formed by Holland Pride, Holland is Ready, and PFLAG Holland/Lakeshore. Their focus this year is on fulfilling the dream of a Holland area LGBTQ Resource Center. They are in the process of securing a site for the center and are now gearing all of their efforts toward providing this space for support, education, and advocacy in our community. They hope to celebrate the opening of the Resource Center this fall.
