Full story here, excerpt below:
Canada’s gay and lesbian organizations want to trademark the word Pride, leading to a fight that is taking on Olympic proportions among gay activists.
Vancouver transsexual Jamie Lee Hamilton was told earlier this summer she would have to take out a membership in the Vancouver Pride Society in order to use the word to promote two events she is hosting during Vancouver’s Pride festivities, which will continue throughout this week.
“I was sent a letter informing me that I could not use the word Pride,” she said. “That did not sit well with me because I believe it’s owned by all of us. To say only certain people can use the word is stupid.”
Hamilton’s events are ManPride and TrannyPride, an event for transsexuals and transvestites.
While she has paid $65 to the society for both an individual and a corporate membership, she calls the charge “obscene.”
She will be in the Aug. 6 Pride Vancouver parade with a group protesting the attempt to trademark the concept.
The issue is similar to the International Olympic Committee’s policing of the use of the word Olympic or any Games logos.
The move to trademark Pride was spearheaded by Pride Toronto, the largest Pride organization in the country and the one with the most resources.
Natasha Garda, the group’s co-chair, said the group hopes to have the issue wrapped up by the end of the year.
She said the move was made “to protect the trademark against for-profit individuals or companies exploiting it in the queer market,” Garda said.
“If we don’t do that, there’s a long line of people who are quite eager to get their hands on that trademark and licence it for thousands and thousands of dollars back to us.”
Garda said Canada’s Pride committees, which are best known for hosting flamboyantly colourful parades in many Canadian cities, also want to ensure that anyone who uses the word Pride pays fees to support the organizations.
The Vancouver Pride society posted a notice on its website May 28 stating: “The word Pride is a registered trademark held by Fierte Canada Pride of which the Vancouver Pride Society is a member and licensed user. The VPS may, at our discretion, permit the use of the word Pride in all its forms associated with advertising and promotions within the district and surrounding promotional areas of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.” …
