Columbus LGBTQ+ community marches with Pride and in protest at annual Stonewall event
Saturday made for a bright and colorful day in what have been trying times for Columbus LGBTQ+ community members and allies.
A ground-level rainbow band of about 18,000 worked its way past Downtown’s high-rise buildings for the annual Stonewall Columbus March for Pride. The band consisted of walkers, dancers, floaters and motorcyclists representing local businesses, corporate event sponsors and Pride advocacy groups.
The march accompanies the Stonewall Columbus Pride Festival, which started Friday and will continue until 8 p.m. Saturday. Stonewall Columbus estimated the weekend festivities would draw over 700,000 people.
Stonewall Columbus: What was it like at the Stonewall Columbus Pride March? Check it out
The march took place during a year in which the state capital’s Pride supporters were targets of hate more than once. In April, neo-Nazis protested a drag brunch at Land Grant Brewing Co., and last week, a group was caught on camera stealing Pride flags in Merion Village.
Because of these events, many at the parade felt more impassioned to march now than ever before.
“Pride started as a protest. It wasn’t a celebration," said Alexis Stevens, a North Linden resident and drag performer representing Southbend Tavern in the march. “This year has kind of reignited that protest feel of the march, and it has brought our community closer together because we’re really standing up for ourselves.
“I think everybody’s a little anxious, but we feel the need to march now more than ever,” said Scott Markham, a 43-year-old Near East Side resident. Markham co-directs Flaggots Ohio, a group that marched 30 flag spinners in choreographed unison to Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Cut to the Feeling.”
Some marchers were additionally fueled by political frustrations, noting recent state legislation that they deem anti-LGBTQ+.
“For us, this is still a march, especially this year, of course,” said Cheryl Ryan, manager at a school that she asked The Dispatch to refer to only as ROCS for safety concerns. “When everything is going sideways in that building over there,” she said, pointing to the Ohio Statehouse, "we feel like it’s even more important to be here."
Attendees not only figuratively but also literally drowned out the noise from the opposition. Three protestors stood near High and Broad streets in the minutes leading up to the 10:30 a.m. march start: One denounced the Pride movement and President Joe Biden over a microphone, while the other two stood silent, holding up signs with Bible verses on them. But soon-to-be marchers used bells and whistles to disrupt them.
An on-site officer said the Columbus Division of Police hadn’t been informed of any connection between the protestors and any extremist group.
Anti-LGBTQ+ efforts don’t seem to be slowing down Pride-related efforts in the community. On Ryan’s float, three drag performers told stories to elementary school children. ROCS planned the same event last year, but it was canceled after Proud Boys showed up in protest. But that wasn't going to stop Ryan and her colleagues from having the stories told.
JNimesheim@dispatch.com
@JackNimesheim
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 2023 Stonewall Columbus Pride March and Festival draws thousands
