As Mayor Nutter prepares to unfurl a new round of budget cuts, the local LGBT community is still realizing the full scope of the November budget reductions.
Although it received little attention from the mainstream media, the elimination of the commerce department’s Marketing, Planning and Community Festival Funding Program has put financial strain on several of the city’s annual LGBT events, including Equality Forum, Philadelphia Black Gay Pride and the Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.
The grant program, which had been in place since 2001, provided funding for organizations to promote their festivals and events and boost tourism. Eligible groups received $10,000 for singe-day events and, for multi-day events, $10,000 per day.
Equality Forum, a weeklong event that brings LGBT community members from around the world to Philadelphia for a discussion on LGBT issues, was hit hard by the loss of the grant.
Malcolm Lazin, executive director of Equality Forum, said the organization has continually received $100,000 from the city, from the commerce department grant and from other agencies prior to the creation of the grant program, since 1996.
Last year, Lazin said that on top of the commerce department grant, Equality Forum received an additional $15,000 from the city’s Department of Behavioral Health, money that also will not be available for this year’s festival.
Lazin said about 12 percent of the organization’s budget came from city funding.
And, he added, Equality Forum has had some reduction in marketing support from private sponsors.
To cope with the financial loss, the group has instituted several changes, including reducing advertising and asking donors to pay for rainbow flags to decorate the city.
Chris Alston, president of Philadelphia Black Gay Pride, said his organization is also feeling the effects of the loss of the commerce department grant. PBGP, which sponsors the Black Gay Pride festival every spring, will now be doing so without the $20,000 in assistance it previously received from the grant.
Alston said the organization is attempting to reach out to new funders to make up for some of this shortfall, but that because of the widespread economic conditions, “funders aren’t being as liberal.”
Although the festival is still scheduled to kick off as planned April 19, Alston said the group may need to scale back if it can’t pinpoint any outside donors.
“We haven’t cut anything yet, but it looks like we may have to unless we find the funders that we’re looking for,” Alston said.
Iris Melendez, an organizer of the Latino Pride Festival, set for June 6, said last year’s inaugural event operated on its own budget, without city assistance, and that she has not yet contacted the city in regard to funding for this year’s festival.
The Philadelphia Film Society, which stages the annual Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, previously received $50,000 from the commerce grant.
“That city funding was a big chunk,” said Andrew Greenblatt, executive director of PFS, which recently split with partner company TLA Video. “It’s critical when you lose a significant sponsor like that.”
Greenblatt previously said PFS still planned to put on the annual film festival, as well as the Philadelphia Film Festival, and the organization’s Web site lists dates for both.
During a meeting with LGBT business leaders earlier this month, one attendee suggested the creation of a Festival Fund, to which private companies and the public can donate and from which community organizations can draw for their events.
Moira Kennedy, a spokesperson for Nutter, said the mayor would be receptive to the possibility.
“I think we’re definitely open to multiple ways of partnering with the community to provide resources and services,” Kennedy said. “We’re definitely willing to explore those options and are more than happy to work with people in the community to come up with some creative solutions to the budget situation.”
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].
