From our Best Culture of the decade feature:
The springboard for the first Pride celebration was a riot at the Stonewall Inn, in New York City, in 1969. Fifty years ago, saying that you were “proud” to be gay or lesbian was a revolutionary act. But today, thankfully, expressing pride in who we are mostly elicits a mental shrug. And it should because, for all intents and purposes, we’ve won. Sure, some states (like Illinois) are better to live in than others, but our side is winning the culture war. So why the need to — literally — parade our “pride” all over the city?
Beyond the vital importance of continuing to take up space, there are still battles to fight. There are still LGBTQ+ adults, teens, and even children who turn to suicide. The American Medical Assocation has declared the killing of black, transgender women an epidemic. The administration is trying to ban transgender soliders from serving. The Supreme Court is deciding if employers can legally discriminate against someone because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. And there are still battles over damn wedding cakes.
But also, it’s a hell of a good time.
I still remember how excited I was when we learned that Champaign-Urbana was going to host its first Pride Festival. Before Kevin Johnson and his team stepped up and improved everyday life for the LGBTQ+ community here, we had to travel to St. Louis or Chicago to celebrate Pride. But not anymore. And, thanks to The UP Center, it doesn’t look like we’ll ever have to again.
Our first PrideFest was humble, but perfect. Many people and businesses in the community helped, either by sponsoring, promoting, setting up vending stations, or just showing up. We had no protesters or “haters” trying to ruin everything for us. And even the News-Gazette gave us some tepid, but positive coverage. I am very proud that Smile Politely was one of the (if not the) festival’s strongest champions.
By its third year, the festival had expanded to the entire weekend, and festival goers now enjoyed three stages, a foam party, and many more vendors and musicians performing both indoors and outdoors in Lincoln Square Mall’s large parking lot. Now the celebration continues to grow with a parade through Downtown Champaign, a Drag Brunch, and more.
This is Kevin Johnson’s legacy. C-U’s PrideFest should never be discussed without giving credit to Kevin and his dedicated committee, who built this festival from the ground up. I hope they know how much they’ve given to Champaign-Urbana’s entire community. (Tracy Nectoux and Julie McClure)
Photo by Eric Frahm