Review of Pride in Riverside, CA; Kristine w., Pepper MasHay, and Thelma Houston

By Craig Fiegener
InstantRiverside.com

The gay community and its supporters filled Riverside’s White Park on Saturday for the second-consecutive Riverside-Inland Empire Pride event.

Without the politics surrounding California’s Proposition 8, the main attraction at this year’s event were the eight performers; last year, the main stage was eclipsed by an area for then-legal same-sex weddings.

Entertainers included ’80s star Tiffany; Niki Haris, who performed last year; Pepper Mashay, who is known for “Dive in the Pool”; Kristine W. (pictured, far right); and disco-era star Thelma Houston (pictured, left).

David St Pierre of the Jeffery Owens Community Center again proved that the group is skilled at planning and executing a respectable event for the region’s gay and lesbian community, though attendance appeared to have dipped from last year (official numbers weren’t available) .

Unfortunately, the comfortable daytime weather dipped into the 60s by sunset, and when headliner Thelma Houston performed it was clear many in the audience were cold.

Earlier in the day, drag performer Tommy Rose (pictured, right) offered several lively music and comedy sets. Rose, a worthy singer, was hard to miss in his orange dress and tall blond hair, but his description about how he hid his male anatomy seemed more fitting for a nightclub than a daytime audience.

It was dusk when Pepper MaShay took the stage. Her music became popular in the U.S. when “Dive in the Pool” became the theme for the domestic version of the Showtime program “Queer as Folk.”

MaShay said she’s seen a change in pride audiences during the past year. “When I look at the crowds, I see people with a great big question mark. It’s not just here, it’s all the places I perform lately,” MaShay said crowd energy has changed; having no explanation she emphasizing her point by making a large question mark in the air.

“You know, I’m not scared about being political, but there’s something different out there right now,” said MaShay.

Filed under Entertainment