community spotlight
Always one of the biggest pride festivals in the country, the theme of this
year’s L.A. Pride celebration is “PRIDE 365: Power. Passion. Purpose.” Not
coincidentally, these are three traits that Christopher Street West’s (CSW)
V.P. of Entertainment, Gaye Ann Bruno definitely possesses! Who is this
unseen dynamo working so hard behind the scenes of this monumental
annual event? What are her greatest challenges and rewards as she
continues to volunteer in this creative, often-frenetic but always fulfilling
role? Leaving New Jersey in 1985 to attend law school in Los Angeles in
hopes of a profession as an entertainment lawyer, Gaye Ann quickly realized
that it was not the career path she wanted. She switched gears and ended up
working as an assistant at Rogers and Cowan—one of LA’s most prestigious
public relations firms. “I did that for a couple years,” she recalls, “I also took some
UCLA extension classes and worked my way up.” Obviously, her choices have
yielded terrific results, as this November, Ms. Bruno will have been working as
director of photography at the CBS Television Network for 20 years and was
also named one of the “Top Ten Amazing Gay Women in Show Business” at the
2008 Power Up Awards. “This is the first award that I’ve received for the LGBT
community,” Bruno notes, “and it was an amazing honor! It was not only for my
work at Pride, but it also recognized my accomplishments at CBS.” In addition,
she happily recalls being presented her award by none other than this year’s
featured main-stage performer Terri Nunn, which Gaye Ann counts as helping
to make the experience “one of the highlights of my entire life.”
Bruno recalls that her first encounter organizing a Pride-related event was
in Long Beach, as part of their 1996 celebration. “I was a well-known D.J. at the
time,“ she notes, adding how she was asked to work along with D.J. Salvador
to create a Latin entertainment section at that year’s festival. “We successfully
brought Latin music into the LGBT community scene for a couple years, when
L.A. Pride asked me to do the same thing for them.” After two more years at L.A.
Pride, the board asked Gaye Ann to officially take over all the entertainment
aspects as V.P. of Entertainment at CSW— a volunteer role she has handled now
for over 10 years. Past years have given her the opportunity to work closely with
such wide-ranging performers like Cyndi Lauper, Deborah Harry, Joan Jett,
Olivia Newton-John and Berlin. ”It’s definitely a treat,” Gaye Ann enthuses. “I
love music, and to work with artists who I adore so much is amazing. I grew up
idolizing most of these people—so to actually meet them in person leaves
me speechless.”
While not all the musicians who play at L.A. Pride are gay and lesbian,
Bruno emphasizes, “Music is universal—it has no color, and it has no gen-
der.” She does admit however to always trying to procure artists who have
a LGBT fan base, as well as those who work within the community, are topical
and have something current to promote as well. “Because I am a publicist by
trade, I am always looking for ‘hooks‘,” she smiles and adds “working within
the budget I’m given is always my biggest challenge.” Gaye Ann always tries
to make sure that everyone’s sentiment is represented. She says, “Pride is
universal. I’m hoping that everyone comes out this year, because we
need to make a statement.” Gaye Ann continues, “We ALL need to stand
together in solidarity against Prop. 8. It’s an issue about equality and
discrimination. It’s not a gay or straight issue; it is about the human rights
Gaye ann Bruno
that everyone should have. It’s a bigger global picture.” On Sunday, Gaye
Ann reveals that during the last 10 minutes of Berlin’s performance on the
Volunteering
mainstage, she’ll have a few surprises to delight everyone in attendance,
to make l.a. Pride Shine
which also promise to be, in her words, “very memorable and a life changing
experience. It’s going to be nothing that any pride has ever done before,” she
by lance perkins
hints, “so stick around!”
For more information regarding Ms. Bruno and L.A. Pride 2009, checkout
lapride.org.
June 2009 | RAGE monthly 9
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