GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — June 1 marks the official first day of Pride month, which is dedicated to celebrating individuals in the LGBTQ+ community.
All throughout June, communities across West Michigan are planning to celebrate in their own ways and are excited to bring back events as they were before the pandemic.
Festivities kick off Saturday, June 4 with Muskegon's very first pride event from 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. in Downtown Muskegon.
Also on Saturday is the second-annual Lowell Pride Festival along the Riverwalk. 70+ vendors will be out from 10:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. There will also be a kids area with games, crafts and a community art project.
"We are so excited for year two," said Nicole Lintemuth, Board President of Lowell Pride, "because last year, so many families came out, so many community members came out who aren't LGBTQ themselves and saw what an amazing day it was."
This year, Lowell Pride is also hosting not one, but two drag shows because of its popularity last year. Beloved performers like Marcus Johns (also known as La Reine Divine) and Amelia Wainright from Beauty Beyond Drag will be back on the main stage.
"I'm looking forward to going back because of how well year one went," Johns said. "It really proved that even in a small community where you feel like you don't have a voice, or there's no one like you, that one day shows you how much support is really out there."
"I think when we were so successful last year and people saw that if Lowell can do it, anyone can do it," said Lintemuth.
Johns and Wainright will also perform at Grand Rapids Pride on June 18 for its first in-person event since the pandemic. For its 34th year in 2022, Grand Rapids Pride Festival will be held at Calder Plaza from noon to 10 p.m. with all kinds of events and shows throughout the day.
"I'm excited to be outside again with an in-person Pride event," said Marcus Johns, "not having to be locked up and to be around so many people again."
"Even after the pandemic, I feel like it's grown so much," said Wainright. "And I think pride for Grand Rapids is great because there's so many different communities and ethnicities in our area that we all tie in together in some way, some shape or form."
And then on June 25, Johns will join other local drag performers for a show at Virtue Cider for Holland's Pride Festival, and he's excited for more people to see what drag is all about.
"I feel like people think drag is very sexualized and things like that," Johns said. "Drag isn't sexual, drag is art. Because anyone can do it."
Technically, this is the 18th year for Holland Pride.
"Because it really started in the basement of a church and after several years became an outdoor, public event," said Jeffrey Sorensen, the Executive Director for Out on the Lakeshore, the non-profit group that now puts on the pride festival every year.
The actual Holland Pride Festival will be on Saturday, June 25 at Centennial Park, but Sorensen said they have events all throughout June to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community. It all kicks off on Saturday, June 4 with the third-annual Run With Pride 5K at Helder Park. Throughout the month, they are also hosting a variety show, poetry readings and open houses.
"Every year it has continued to grow," Sorensen said, "and every year we continue to get so much more community engagement and support."
"I think doing pride festivals and events again and again will bring even more people out each year," said Marcus Johns, "and just it keeps reinforcing to people in the LGBTQ+ community that they're not alone, it will get better, and that there are people in your community that care about you."
"You may not see them every day, you may not talk to them very often, but on this one day you get to see your neighbors showing their support," Johns said.
"No matter where you are, there is a community for you," added Sorensen.
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