RENWL

- A parade float belonging to the gay rights organization Imperial Court of All Alaska, which had recently been in the gay pride parade last weekend, and was being refurbished for the Fourth of July parade this weekend, was destroyed in an early morning garage fire Friday, July 2, 2010.

Now this is a heartwarming story:

A parade float belonging to the gay rights organization Imperial Court of All Alaska was destroyed last Friday in an early morning fire in Anchourage,  Alaska, under mysterious circumstances. The float had been previously used in Anchorage’s gay pride parade the weekend before and was being readied for the Fourth of July parade this past weekend.

In a story about the fire last week LGTB community leaders said regardless of whether the float torching was an accident or a malicious  act, they still wanted to send a positive message.

“No matter what happens we will rise above it and we will come together as a community,” stated Colleen Crinklaw, the LGBT Imperial Court Grand Duchess 9 to the local tv station KTVA. “We will hold each other up and we will support each other no matter what happens.”

And they did.

While a fire department spokeswoman said the fire was being called suspicious and is still currently under investigation, that didn’t stop Imperial Court float builders, made up of Anchorage’s LGBT leaders, from rebuilding another float just in time to participate in the city’s 4th of July parade. Determined to make art out of ashes, the group called their new float The Phoenix Rising.

Two days after fire officials called a blaze that destroyed a gay pride float possible arson, leaders from the gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender community’s Imperial Court were able to rebuild their float, taking first prize in the July 4 parade contest!

Wow. What a way to rally back from a setback. Congratulations to the Imperial Court of All Alaska for their 1st place win and the city of Anchorage for supporting them to victory. Great story.  In the video embed that accompanies the following article watch and listen to some of the members of the Imperial Court Of All Alaska describe their experience and what community for them looks like.

Sniff  sniff.