Gay Pride and Pepsic PepsiCo forms Chicago Gay Pride organization August 19, 2009 According to PepsiCo representative Philene Frazar, PepsiCo is a founding member in establishing a homosexual activist group in Chicago. Frazar, in a presentation during a 2009 homosexual advocacy conference, announced PepsiCo was instrumental in forming Chicago's "Citywide Pride" (see presentation slide here). The Citywide Pride website says it "strives to educate and empower the LGBT workforce and their allies." Citywide Pride events listed for 2009 include: / - Seminar on how gays can successfully adopt children - Same-sex marriage tutorials - "Recruitment and engagement" techniques training - "Family Pride" days (this one particularly hosted by PepsiCo) , In addition, Frazer noted that PepsiCo regularly recruits and invites employees from smaller companies to attend a variety of gay pride parades with them, saying: "It really is a true celebration of the entire community when PepsiCo steps out to be part of a parade. In most of these cities, we are giving out a sampling of all our product lines, which are as diverse as Tropicana juice, all the way to Frito-Lay chips. We also hand out cups and banners and whistles. It's really a true corporate presence once we hit the parade route."