Bill Myers, The Examiner
2007-08-23 07:00:00.0
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WASHINGTON -

The District of Columbia police department’s decision to slap a $36,000 bill on a gay festival has raised eyebrows on the District Council. D.C. police and the Emergency Management Agency said they need the money to pay for the overtime and other costs for security on the June Gay Pride parade and festival. Phil Mendelson, D-at large, has written a pair of letters challenging the bill — in part because the agencies waived fees last year and because the department did not charge fees for the annual Eastern Market Day parade this year.

Emergency management officials said they waived more than $18,000 in fees for the Pride events this year. Last year, agency officials did not bill for any of the $41,000 cost.

The parade is organized by the Whitman-Walker Clinic, which provides health care to poor D.C. residents. Mendelson said he was concerned the bill that would affect the clinic’s services.

Emergency Management spokeswoman Jo’Ellen Gray Countee said parade organizers only requested the waiver for the parade, and not the festival.

But parade spokesman Chip Lewis said the security fees have been a contentious issue for years.

The District is home to one of the nation’s largest gay communities. Nearly 1 in every 20 residents is gay or lesbian.

Richard J. Rosendall, a lobbyist for the D.C. Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance, said he hopes the D.C. police and Mayor Adrian Fenty’s administration will take another look at the bill.

“The standard, from our point of view, is one of equality,” he said. “If the city is short of cash, they should not be picking and choosing who they’re hitting up for it.”

Police spokeswoman Traci L. Hughes said that the police department routinely submits bills for public events. It’s up to the Emergency Management Agency to decide whether to waive them, she said.

bmyers@dcexaminer.com

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