Pride in the CLE Beams with Community, Defiance and Pride
Saturday's Pride in the CLE attendees embodied and spoke on the importance of pride, community and defying oppression.
On Saturday, Pride in the CLE, the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland’s annual march and festival, took place kicking off Pride Month for Clevelanders. Pride blazed throughout downtown as hundreds of attendees marched from Public Square, Superior and Lakeside head-to-toe in pride paraphernalia representing their respective sexualities, or allying with the queer attendees.
Official groups participating in the march were divided and introduced by their associated color zone. Throughout the parade you could see a plethora of organizations such as ACLU, Cleveland Party for Socialism and Liberation, Democratic Socialists of America, Playhouse Square, Target, University Hospital, Haus of Transcendent, Cleveland Museum of Art Planned Parenthood and News 5. The parade also featured marchers on behalf of political candidates such as Dr. Amy Acton and Greg Levy.
Before the march officially kicked off, at Public Square, tension had already grown with the arrival of religious anti-LGBTQ+ organizers, spouting Bible verses and condemning rhetoric to attendees. A double-sided “Homo Sex is Sin” and “Repent and turn to Jesus” sign, hoisted by two men, following an anti-homosexual demonstrator with a megaphone, caused surrounding crowds to boo in response.
One parade goer took on the anti-gay protestors, earning cheers from the crowd. When asked for their motive behind the act and why pride is so important explained, “Pride is very important for me because ever since I came out in high school, I’ve been very open about my sexuality … and as a Black woman, my mom has always told me to work three times harder and be proud of who I am.” They also said the act was an act of free expression and defiance.
Many of the signs and shirts present at the march made social and political statements, challenging the current political atmosphere. The messages such as anti-Trump, abolish ICE, anti-House Bill 249, Trans Rights are Workers Rights and Free Palestine were on full display.
Though this year marked the eleventh anniversary of Pride in the CLE, for many it was still their first time experiencing the march and festival. One family of parade goers described their favorite parts of the parade, which included seeing the various different types of parade goers, specifically the “furries,” experiencing the parade itself and experiencing their first Pride parade with family.
The march ended at Malls B and C where the festival, which went on until 6 p.m., took place. The festival hosted an array of vendors and performers. One festival goer explained the importance of Pride for Black queer people and allies to show up, “These spaces only flourish when we show up, when we show not only that we have these intersectionalities but we are dominant in every field no matter what our identity is.”
Another festival goer explained Pride in the CLE gave them an opportunity to connect with other queer people, “There aren’t a ton of spaces for the LGBTQIA+ community … Anytime there’s a chance to connect with other folks and expand that community footprint … I always try to take it.”
