Lonnie Hanzon Stirs Up an "Equality Cake" for PrideFest

In her hit cover of "MacArthur Park," gay icon and disco-music diva Donna Summer famously sang, "Someone left the cake out in the rain/I don’t think that I can take it, because it took so long to bake it/And I’ll never have that recipe again.” Now a local artist is Kickstarting his efforts to make a giant symbolic cake that will be unveiled in Civic Center Park on Pridefest, rain or shine.

Lonnie Hanzon, who's made his mark on projects ranging from the giant "Evolution of the Ball" public art work at Coors Field to the new Wizard’s Chest storefront, has his heart and mind set on constructing a twenty-foot-high wedding cake for the fortieth anniversary of PrideFest, which will land at Civic Center Park June 20-21. Why a cake? As Hanzon explains it, the recent flap over the refusal of the owner of Azucar to write a discriminatory message on a cake purchased at the Denver bakery and the looming Supreme Court decision on marriage equality coming this summer create a recipe for a meaningful slice of artistic vision.

“My goal as a creator is to reach the largest audience possible with images and messages of joy, history, and faith in the human spirit,” says Hanzon. His plan for “Equality Cake” is massive: The campy white wedding cake will be constructed of steel, foam and a boatload of disco balls bequeathed to Hanzon by a dearly departed drag queen friend. “I want to help define the imagery and memories of this time," he adds. "If, by chance, the Supreme Court comes back with a negative decision, I plan on turning the work into a visual protest.”

Hanzon’s Kickstarter has a goal of $10,000, half of which will serve as a donation to the Gay and Lesbian Center of Colorado (the Center), which produces PrideFest every year; the remainder will go to upgrading the materials and paying for additional equipment to make this cake truly top-tier. “I want this work to be fun about a very serious subject," says Hanzon. "Campy and empowered and impassioned.”  If you’d like to donate a cup of sugar to the mix, visit the "Equality Cake" Kickstarter by May 1.

---