Southern Exposure
By Marci Bair

South Bay Pride & Music Festival!
Welcome to the second installment of Southern Exposure, bringing you the latest information and happenings from South County San Diego. This month I would like to start with a reminder that South County’s largest LGBT event of the year will soon be here!

On Saturday, Aug. 21, Chula Vista will celebrate its eighth annual South Bay Pride & Music Fesitval at Memorial Park downtown, from noon to 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. It will provide a full day of musical entertainment for the adults, along with a wine and beer garden, vendor booths and delicious food. In addition, Family Matters, San Diego’s LGBT parenting group, will provide a “Children’s Garden” area to entertain all children in attendance. For more information, visit southbaypride.org.

In addition to the South Bay Pride & Music Festival, there are many great people in the South Bay and great things happening here. In my next several columns, I want to highlight a few of the individuals and organizations that are having an impact on South Bay’s LGBT community, working to bridge the gap between gay and straight.

The first person I would like to introduce you to had very personal reasons for joining the South Bay Alliance, South Bay’s group for LGBT people and their allies. Though he joined to support his gay son, he received an extra bonus, in that he was also able to promote his business, making his membership a win-win.

Meet Harry Orgovan. Mr. Orgovan has been a resident of Chula Vista for the majority of his 57 years. He still lives in the house he grew up in, which his parents bought in 1941 for—if you can believe this—just under $8,000. Harry has two children: his daughter, Megan, and his son, Ben. He also has three grandchildren, ranging in age from 8 months to 6 years.

Harry learned about the South Bay Alliance through an e-mail that the Chula Vista Chamber of Commerce sent to all its members, advertising a mixer the South Bay Alliance was holding. He asked Ben, who is openly gay, if he had heard of the South Bay Alliance and Ben said he hadn’t. This e-mail served as a great introduction to the South Bay Alliance for Ben, who has since become a wonderful addition to our board of directors and is serving as chair of this year’s South Bay Pride event.

Harry is a well-known business owner in Chula Vista. He started Chula Vista Kayak in 2008 and is very excited about the development of the Chula Vista bayfront, plans for which include a convention center, hotels and restaurants. Harry knows his business, which offers aqua exploration of south San Diego Bay and the San Diego Wildlife Refuge, will benefit greatly from this proposed bay-front expansion. He also said his business has brought him closer to nature and the diverse and unique wildlife in his own back yard. His excursions have helped him see how, just as in nature, we are all different and unique—and that it is this diversity that makes a community great.

“When you look at nature, there’s more than meets the eye,” Harry said. “Life is much more diverse and, in a sense, complicated (then we realize). We can understand in-depth the different animals and their specialties and how each one of them has something to offer which may not be noticeable at first glance.”

Harry said he is very proud of his son, and sees him as part of a movement to bring about an understanding that we are all equal and deserving of the same rights and respect. Just as Chula Vista has changed a lot over the years, Harry said he also has changed.

“We’re all raised in our own little world as we grow and (then) we become more self-aware and aware of everything around us, including our fellow human beings,” he said. “It’s not just a one-time thing. It’s a continual (process).”

Harry takes appointments for kayak rentals and group tours. You will find more information at ChulaVistaKayak.com. He encourages other business owners to take advantage of networking opportunities offered at South Bay Alliance mixers, as well as the opportunity to showcase their business at the South Bay Pride & Music Festival.

In addition to great businesses like Chula Vista Kayak, we are privileged to have such supporting organizations as the Unitarian Universalist Church of the South Bay, which you will hear more about next month, as well as others making a positive impact in the South Bay.

If you know of an individual or organization in the South Bay that you would like to introduce our readers to, please contact me at Marci@SouthBayAllliance.net.

For more information on details about South Bay Pride on Aug. 21st or to volunteer, visit SouthBayPride.org.

—Marci Bair is a Certified Financial Planner and owner of Bair Financial Group. She resides in Chula Vista with her family, where she is active with the South Bay Alliance, the Women’s Networking Group of Chula Vista and the Greater San Diego Business Association. In her spare time, she serves as a Little League baseball coach.