Features

Pridefest of the Palm Beaches Celebrates Community Super Heroes

March 25, 2010

Compass Palm Beach presents the Seventeenth annual PrideFest of the Palm Beaches at Bryant Park in Lake Worth on Saturday and Sunday, March 27th and 28th, from noon to 6 pm. PrideFest 2010 is celebrating community super heroes and will feature great live music, exceptional food, fabulous merchandise and non-stop entertainment. The Grand Parade is Sunday at 11:30 am down Lake Avenue and ends right at the festival gate. Admission to the festival is $5 in advance per day and $7 at the park.

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Compass was founded in 1988 as the Stop AIDS Project of South Florida; Compass’ foundation was built on HIV Prevention services. Modeled after the Stop AIDS Project in San Francisco, the goal of the new organization was to educate gay and bisexual men in the prevention of HIV and AIDS. Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the organization quickly established itself as a recognized leader in South Florida’s HIV prevention efforts. In its fourth year of service it had successfully helped reduce the rate of new HIV infections in South Florida, prompting the Board of Directors to further serve the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. They established Compass as a community center to provide a range of support services to promote pride, diversity and public awareness of, for and by the LGBT community in Palm Beach County. Through a series of grants and awards from the Children’s Services Council, the Ryan White CARE Act, the State of Florida Department of Health, the Palm Beach County Health Department, and the Palm Beach County Health Care District, Compass enhanced its mission with a range of programs to benefit individuals of all ages, races and genders. These grants have enabled Compass to continuously provide much-needed services such as HIV/AIDS case management, HIV/AIDS education and prevention, counseling and youth services tailored to meet the needs of LGBT youth and their families. In 1997, a local philanthropist donated a building to Compass, where it provided services until 2001, prompting the center to move to a highly visible 5,000-square-foot facility on South Dixie Highway in West Palm Beach, where it offered easy access via public transportation. In June 2002, Compass was recognized as the largest gay and lesbian center in the Southeast United States and the seventh largest in the nation in budget size, program diversity and staff size. Last year Compass moved into its new location at 201 N. Dixie Hwy / Lake Worth in what is a historic private/public partnership with a municipality and a gay & lesbian community center. Respected as one of the leaders in the LGBT movement, Compass aims to diminish stereotypes by challenging long-standing misconceptions about the character of the LGBT community.

“PrideFest is about identity and positive representation,” said Tony Plakas, Compass’ CEO. “This year we want to honor community heroes who have been true to themselves and others; in result making Palm Beach County one of the best places in Florida for all people to live.”

Compass would like to thank all their PrideFest sponsors, including Wild 95.5, FPL, Wal-Mart, McGladrey & Pullen, The Mad Hatter Lounge, Farmacia las Americas, Malakor, Don Todorich with Illustrated Properties, Gay Community Yellow Pages, Panache, Dr. Watren with MDVip, ADT, Girl Magazine, Walgreen’s, Commerce Pharmacy, Adult Video Warehouse, In the Loop, Mark’s List, Grandview Gardens, ID Lube, She Magazine, HG Roosters, Javi Productions, Latino Boys Magazine and Hotspots Magazine.

For more information on Compass or PrideFest please visit their website at CompassGLCC.com