Itasca Pride reports that ‘Love won’ after Grand Rapids hosts pride picnic and festival

On Sunday, June 23, hundreds of community members and visitors gathered at the Old Central School in downtown Grand Rapids for “Itasca Pride Fest.”

Nonprofit organization, Itasca Pride, put together the first large-scale gathering in Itasca County for support of the LGBTQIA+ community during Pride Month. Annual LGBTQIA+ picnics are not new to the Grand Rapids area. Several alliances have, over the years, held annual summer celebrations, including a previous picnic held at Central School. This year was the first official “Pride” event. With it, came pushback from some local area social media pages and community members claiming it as an inappropriate environment for children. References to queer, transgender, and drag persons were deemed negatively, often as anti-Christian, and opposition worked to create petitions to stop the full-day festival.

A small group of people appeared at the event in protest, surveilling the grounds and trying to capture photos though they were often blocked by rainbow flags, bingo cards, or other items from participants. Some protestors attended the public forum on Monday at the Grand Rapids City Council meeting, speaking in opposition to the event and expressing their disappointment that it happened. The council members did not respond to comments made during the public forum.

Karter Starling, board member of Itasca Pride, said, “Love won,” reflecting on the opposing force.

According to MPR, Partners Holly Hysjulien and Lori Gustafson were driving through northern Minnesota to their cabin on Sunday when they saw a sign about the event. They said they knew they had to pull over.

“We came to show our support of what’s happening, because everyone needs a safe space to be who they are and grow into who they are. When we were growing up there wasn’t a lot of that,” Gustafson said.

Itasca Pride’s organization works hard to educate the community for the need of acceptance for an often marginalized community– LGBTQIA+ people who live and walk along others daily want the same respect, human rights, and acknowledgement as their straight counterparts. Ehyrn Summers, the emcee and host of the drag show, said, “We simply want a day of celebration where we can feel free to be ourselves without a cast of judgment and shame.”

The main event of the festival was the drag show. Energy, laughter, cheers, whistles, clapping, and more filled the air as each new performer came to the stage to lip-synch and dance to a selected song. Many of the performers stepped out into the crowds to interact with the viewers. People of all ages, children, teens, adults, and seniors were in attendance.

Starling presented two awards to two local citizens who supported and advocated for the newly formed Itasca Pride, Cortney Webber and Alice Moren. Starling said that both Webber and Moren provided direction and encouragement in every step of the planning of the day’s festivities.

At the end of the day, the formal counters standing at the entry points had calculated over two thousand people coming and going throughout the eight hour festival. Organizer Janet Miller said that people told her throughout the day how great it was to feel loved and validated.

Grand Rapids Police Chief Andy Morgan and Captain Kevin Ott praised the hard work of the organizers. The police presence was strong and seen but only needed for one rolled ankle during the day.

Starling said, “Minnesota has become a sanctuary state for queer people, and queer people are not flocking to the city, they are flocking to our rural communities. So it is important that we invest in the rural queer communities and make sure that this is a place that they know they can be.”