June is Pride month in Alabama. Members of the state’s LGBTQ community and their supporters will gather in Birmingham for a weekend celebration be called Pride Fest. The nonprofit Central Alabama Pride organizes the event every June to celebrate LGBTQ people in Birmingham. Josh Coleman is the president of CAP. He says that the location and openness of this year’s location made it perfect for the event.
“So Linn Park is positioned in between two bodies of government, the county government and the city government building, and it really is in the heart of the city,” said Coleman. “It allows for a more free and open celebration here in The Magic City.
Supporters of PRIDE fest say the annual send the message that Alabama is a place where people can be their authentic selves. Coleman says the event is a safe place for LGBTQ people regardless of where they are on their journey to acceptance.
“So it means to the community, this is a place where you can come and be your authentic self. And sometimes for people this may be their first time that they get to do that and express themselves,” he observed.
The march will be followed on Sunday with an event at Linn Park featuring stars from Ru Paul’s drag race as well as electropop musician Dev.