Sharon Needles performs at PrideFest. Photo by Caroline Tan.
PrideFest
President Scott Gunkel is disappointed. David Charpentier, Sharon Needles’
manager and former entertainment director of PrideFest, is also disappointed.
Sharon Needles is just plain mad.
The
details are rather unimportant: whether PrideFest violated the contract by not
providing a casket, whether Sharon Needles did not fulfill her duties as a host
and whether PrideFest or Sharon Needles is responsible for reimbursing fans for
the failed meet and greet tickets. A long-time PrideFest volunteer, who asked
to remain anonymous, says the way the issue was handled sheds light on
PrideFest’s organizational issues and calls this incident “the tip of the
iceberg.”
“What
really happened is that the ball was dropped in quite a few areas,” says the
volunteer. “The loss is on both sides. I haven’t met anyone who has had anything
negative to say about the entire weekend. Personal issues and judgments have
become public issues.”
For
all intents and purposes, this year’s PrideFest was a success – attendance met
Gunkel’s goal of 28,000 and beat last year’s numbers by 2,250. “It’s
unfortunate that this happened with a really successful festival,” Gunkel says.
Almost
a week after the June 10 performance, Gunkel emailed Charpentier (as well as
several members of the media) to express his disappointment and demand
Charpentier repay the $550 PrideFest reimbursed to meet and greet ticket
holders. Gunkel also released an open letter that same day saying, “We promise you this type of disrespect for
our community will never be tolerated at PrideFest Milwaukee.”
The
focus is now back on in-fighting within a community that has been described as
fragmented and segregated. “I used to book the talent for the festival,”
Charpentier says. “There were so many internal issues with the festival that I
just didn’t want to be associated with it anymore.”
Needles,
who says meet and greets are one of the most important parts of her shows and
made appearances at La Cage and ETC later that night, feels she’s being used as
a buffer. “They tried to pin me against the gay community,” she says. “It
leaves a little bit of a bad taste in my mouth.”
The
volunteer blames the organization’s structure and lack of bylaws for the
disorganization. (Gunkel says the organization has been functioning ad hoc
since 2004, which means, among other things, that there are no functional
bylaws.)
For
a festival whose future seems uncertain, the volunteer hopes the organization
can get past the fighting and focus on what’s important. “I do think that we
have a great community, a great support base that is ready to take on the
challenge and really make the festival be something that is amazing. It’s going
to take a strong leader to really be able to dig through all of the pieces and
really put them back together. Is the leader Scott Gunkel? I guess we’ll find
out.”
