Washington Blade - May 18, 2006
Greg Marzullo

"I love the juxtaposition of all this history and all this tradition and the fact that there's a witches' coven down the street," laughs well-known gay actor and singer Sam Harris, who will be performing on Sat., May 20 at 8 p.m. during the main event of New Hope's Gay Pride celebration.

New Hope's Pride, from Friday, May 19 through Sunday, May 21, is a reflection of the inclusive atmosphere that has put the idyllic town on the go-to map for gay tourists.

"While other Pride events are just for the gay community, New Hope's festival is participated in by the gay and straight community," says Dan Brooks, one of the coordinators of the festival since its inception in 2003. He adds that the financial sponsorship for Pride comes from equal parts gay and straight organizations.

"I've really not traveled to another spot like [New Hope]," says Terrence Meck, one of the co-owners of the Raven, a gay resort in town. "Everyone is so accepting of everything. Even in the school system they teach diversity."

Georgeanne Dantone, owner of Prima Donna's Closet, a women's clothing shop, also says that the sense of diversity in town is widespread.

"You come here to escape all the politics that are outside of this town," says Dantone, who is straight. "Everybody is accepted - straight, gay, rich, poor - it doesn't matter."

THIS SEEMING GAY utopia arose from a varied history as an industrial mill town and an artist's haven, dropped in the middle of a predominantly Quaker rural farm community. New Hope was part of Solebury township until 1837 when it broke away and became its own borough.

"Even in the 1800s, [New Hope] was known as a town that had good parties and was politically active," says Les Isbrandt, who is president of the historical society and lives in New Hope with his wife. "It was always open to change."

Although the town became prominent in the Northeast for its mill industries in the 18th and 19th centuries, the population began to decline shortly after many young men were killed in the Civil War. The late 1800s saw the first artists moving into the area, and then in the 20th century, actors, writers and musicians began heading to the rural outpost.

"In the late '30s, there was an old mill converted into a playhouse, and that drew a major crowd out of the New York area," Isbrandt says.

Decades later, in the '90s, after the artistic rush had slaked, the townspeople decided they needed to capitalize on the area's history and still-artistic community, so they started a campaign to put New Hope back on the map. Gay men and lesbians heard the call and began vacationing there and often relocating altogether.

Meck, 28, and his partner Rand Skolnick, 47, are transplants from New York. After spending time in New Hope on the weekends, the pair moved in 2003 to a home 15 minutes outside of town and took over the Raven. They started to fix up the hotel, which had fallen into disrepair, and expanded the property's potential.

"We've been doing major renovations ever since," Meck says. The Raven has been in business since 1979, serving a predominantly gay clientele, and now with the pool, restaurant and bar, the resort is a major spot for the town's Pride celebration.

"As the only gay bar in town, we do all the sponsorship receptions here," says Meck, who has also been on the Pride committee since its beginnings. Pride's closing event, the Sunset Poolside T-dance, will take place at the Raven on Sun., May 21 starting at 4 p.m.

Meck is quick to point out that New Hope's Pride is not just for gay residents and visitors.

"[Pride] spread through the town," he says. "It's really more of a community celebration. If you live in New Hope, you have a gay friend."

THE THEME OF this year's Pride celebration mirrors the fantasy world New Hope residents have created: "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." The weekend is filled with many gay events, including the ubiquitous drag shows, dances and celebrity appearances.

Any money raised during Pride from the main events will be donated to charitable causes.

"I always assumed that charity was the goal in addition to the celebration," says Brooks. This year's beneficiaries are the Human Rights Campaign, Fighting AIDS Continuously Together - a local AIDS/HIV-related organization - and the Rainbow Room, a local group dedicated to providing social and educational opportunities for gay and lesbian youth.

"We're one of the few Pride fests that contributes back to charity," says Brooks.

One of the recurring Pride events is Project Funway, the Saturday afternoon when local clothiers display their wares on models who work the runway set up on Main Street. This year's event is hosted by Kim Stoltz, the lesbian contestant seen on UPN's "America's Top Model" earlier this season.

Also part of this year's festivities is the first ever New Hope Idol contest, styled after Fox TV's hit series "American Idol."

"It's going to be a really top-rate production night," says Bob Egan, the Pride entertainment head. "I have incredible lighting and sound design."

Egan, 48, has lived in New Hope for 21 years, and he also has been on the Pride committee from its very beginnings. For this year's main event, Egan was able to secure Sam Harris and Lesley Gore, famed lesbian singer of the 1962 hit "It's My Party."

"These are the biggest names we'll have had yet," says Egan. "We're still trying to get this event on the map. It's growing every year."

After Gore recorded her famous number at the age of 16, she followed the hit with a handful of other songs, including "You Don't Own Me," a girl-power slap-down song that experienced a brief popular revival thanks to the 1996 Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn and Diane Keaton film "The First Wives Club."

Harris, also an out entertainer, plans to do a one-hour set, performing songs from his current traveling show "SAM." The actor and singer got his first major exposure when he won the premiere season of Star Search in 1984.

Since then he's starred in a number of musicals, including Cy Coleman's 1997 Broadway show "The Life," for which he was nominated for a Tony award in the best featured actor in a musical category. He'll be making his first foray into serial television this fall on CBS' comedy series "The Class."

Harris is no stranger to benefit performances, having performed in civil rights and AIDS fundraisers throughout his career.

"I think it's a lot more cushy to be a young gay man or woman now than years ago," Harris says. "But I think complacency is a very dangerous thing. I think [Pride events] can be celebratory, but they're also important to give some sense of a solid foundation from which to make a change."

Harris says he's heartened by the town spirit of New Hope, which he's visited in the past, and this is part of the reason that he's performing at its Pride festival.

"I think it's fantastic that a lot of straight people come to these events," Harris says. "Our issues are not gay issues - they're human issues."

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