Events at the 2003 Annual Michigan Pride LGBT March, Rally & Festival:

• The 2003 Annual Michigan Pride LGBT March, Rally & Festival kicks off with the Absolut Pride Comedy Show at 9 p.m. Friday at Club Esquire, 1250 Turner St. in Lansing. Doors open at 7 p.m., tickets are $15 at the door.

• The Remember My Name AIDS Memorial begins at 8 a.m. Saturday on the Capitol steps. The names of Michigan residents who have passed away from AIDS will be read out loud, said Sara Mieras, spokesperson for Michigan Pride.

"The AIDS memorial is very moving and somber experience," she said. "It puts a face on the thousands of people whether gay or not who have died from the epidemic."

There also will be free and confidential testing for HIV from 3-8 p.m. at the Riverfront Park in Lansing.

• The March Line-Up begins noon Saturday along Grand River Avenue in front of Riverfront Park in Lansing. The march will lead toward the steps of the Capitol and around 1 p.m. Jennifer Granholm's spokeswoman, Mary Dettloff, will declare June Gay Pride Month.

• At 2 p.m Saturday there will be a commitment ceremony on the steps of the Capitol. About 300 people are expected to participate in a mass commitment ceremony conducted by two ministers from the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti area.

"It's a form of protest and commitment for participants," Mieras said.

Participants will be serenaded by the Greater Lansing Gay Men's Chorus.

• Planet Pride Dancing in the Streets Party closes Saturday's events. The event begins at 8 p.m. at Clinton Street in Lansing's Old Town. There is a $5 cover charge and the event is for ages 18 and over.

• Transgender Michigan Picnic at Patriarche Park in East Lansing closes the weekend's events. The event kicks off at noon Sunday and is free to the public.

Antonio Planas