All the colors of the rainbow piggy-backed on some unicorns Saturday, making their way along Adams Street in Toledo for the 15th annual Pride celebration and 14th annual parade.
More than 200 groups participated in this year’s parade in what organizers called the first year to fully recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
“More people registered than ever,” said Brent Rabie, the executive director of Equality Toledo and the parade coordinator for Pride.
Representatives, businesses, and organizations, including Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz, First Solar, and Owens Corning, walked toward the Maumee River where about 150 vendors and sponsors had booths in between the Imagination Station and Promenade Park.
“We like to support all aspects of our community,” said Alex Huffaker, executive assistant to the CEO for TARTA. “Transit is a reflection of the entire community and that means all.”
The sentiment of togetherness was all throughout the celebration, as people cheered, waved flags, and glitzed up their outfits.
Lisa Flowers of West Toledo, who came with her two sons, ages 4 and 6, said, “I want my kids to know that they can be free and love whoever they want to love throughout their lives.”
Ms. Flowers identified herself as an ally and was there to support her friends in the LGBTQ+ community because, “I’ve seen their love and their struggles with their families,” she said.
Support was the word of the day.
But not everyone on Adams Street was in support of the event.
At the intersection of North Michigan Street and Adams a handful of individuals who said they were from Ambassador Bible Church showed up with signs and proclaimed that people in the parade should repent.
One, who would only give his first name, Ben, said there was nothing hateful about their street preaching, because he would do likewise at a football game. Ben did say he knew beforehand that the Pride celebration was going on Saturday morning, and that he did think homosexuality was a sin.
“He just believes what he is doing is absolutely right,” said Kane Ableton, who confronted the group and started a dialogue. “I hope that people can see that people are different.”
No dampers were put on the festivities by the surprise visitors, and perhaps Dillon Hall, of Uptown Toledo, summarized the day best.
“It's gay pride. I'm gay. It's pride,” he said. Sporting some particularly spiky head gear, Mr. Hall said, “I just like that it looks uncomfortable.”
From the back of a car for Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Maria Banda sat throwing candy.
“This is my favorite day of the year,” she said. “Cause it makes everyone happy.”
Elizabeth Onofrey of West Toledo had the same idea as she celebrated her birthday Saturday.
In the spirit of Pride Ms. Onofrey’s daughter, Eleana Johnson came up from Sarasota, Fla., and attended the parade in a full unicorn costume.
“I think it's the most beautiful thing in the world,” Ms. Onofrey said of the parade and celebration. “What more could you ask for? Look at all the beautiful people who came to my party.”
Torie Thorne, the logistics coordinator and a co-founder of Toledo Pride, said over the weekend they expected 20,000 to 30,000 in attendance, up from about 20,000 last year. The larger numbers were planned for with a larger splay of downtown, including two separate performance stages.
Ms. Thorne was grateful to everyone who came, and the higher numbers showed that Toledo’s August Pride had caught a rhythm against the deluge of the June Pride celebrations.
First Published August 24, 2024, 10:31 p.m.
