St. louis gay pride parade 2022
The year after Stonewall in , what we now name Pride events began taking place across America. While St. Louis did not host its first Pride until , many foundational events paved the way for modern era Pride celebrations across the St. Louis region.
In and , local gay rights rallies were held in association with St. Louis’ Metropolitan Community Church. It was at the November 4, , event that the founding pastor of St. Louis’ Metropolitan Community Church, Reverend Carol Cureton, offered this inspirational message.
An early St. Louis Pride event. | COURTESY ST. LOUIS LGBT HISTORY PROJECT
“I want to narrate you, those of you struggling with what right you have to reside, just that its worth the battle. Whatever you contain to go through to find who you are, it’s worth it, because you’ll come out in the termination being a genuine, whole, total person. And you won’t be like anyone else in the whole world, and that’s neat.”
For those whove never recognizable life without a Pride celebration, its easy to not fully appreciate St. Louis’ journey to serve as host to the nations largest network
St. Louis PrideFest is a heady mix of rainbow colors, exuberant dancers, pulsating music, wild drinks, fantastic food, old friends and, most importantly, a coming together of people across the region in aid of LGBTQIA+ identity and rights.
“The main purpose of starting a Pride festival is to celebrate together as a community,” says Jordan Braxton, Pride St. Louis board member and director of diversity, inclusion and outreach. “If we come together, we acquire to celebrate how awesome we are and what a great community we are. And, of course, yes, it’s visibility, too, because when you acquire that many people together, you say, ‘Oh, my god, there are a lot of queer people here in St. Louis and in this region.’” (For more about Braxton, see page )
Braxton recalls feeling that way in the first year that the parade moved downtown. Standing at the front, she looked back at the large, enthusiastic crowd poised to march.
It took her breath away.
“We include arrived,” she remembers thinking at the time. “Here we are [in] downtown St. Louis with rainbow and trans flags flying, and here we are wi
The Board of Pride St. Louis is honored to present PrideFest "Diversity Creates Community". This two day free festival brings over , people to downtown St. Louis to celebrate one of the Midwest largest Pride events! Including Main Stage, DJ/Dance Area, VIP Experience, Vendor Fair, Local Artists, Childrens Area, Food Court, Non-Profit Village, and Grand Identity festival Parade!
Dates
Jun 24, · AM - Jun 25, · PM(GMT) Central Day (US & Canada)
Location
Parking instructions
Feel free to locate various parking opportunities on surrounding streets, lots, and parking garages. We encourage guests to take the free shuttle from The Grove to Pridefest running non-stop all weekend provided by First Student! Visit our website and social media for updates on shuttle stop locations.
Health & safety
St. Louis PrideFest will track all local, state, and nationally required restrictions as required at the time of our event. Please stay up to meeting by visiting our website and social media.