PROTECT PRIDE

Beginning with the 2023 Pride Festival, Columbus, IN Pride Inc. decided to name an annual initiative towards which we would donate 15% of our festival income. In 2024, our initiative was STAND WITH TRANS, and we raised around $5,250 for this cause, which we are using in partnership with Y’all to fund gender-affirming microgrants for Bartholomew County residents. 

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"Pride" means lots of things to lots of people: self-identity, community, equity, equality, visibility, safety, dignity, self-affirmation, and more. To protect pride is to secure the ability for people who are LGBTQIA+ to safely, legally, joyfully, and openly live and celebrate all these things.

Throughout 2025, Pride has been threatened in numerous ways, including this short list of examples:

• Festivals being cancelled or poorly attended, due to fear, financial and organizational challenges

• Corporations quietly removing DEI policies

• Violence during pride celebrations

• Supreme court rulings and pending legislation threatening the health and rights of LGBTQIA+ people, including children

I can’t help but notice similarities to where we are compared to where we were when Erin Bailey hosted the first Pride Festival in 2018 - 7 years later, LGBTQ+ rights are still in the spotlight and numerous people in our community still feel afraid and rejected. What HAS changed from 7 years ago is that Columbus Pride has become a force in our community - one of the largest events of the year that draws thousands of participants, engages hundreds of businesses, and has grown into an established non-profit organization. Columbus IN Pride, Inc. exists to protect pride, and we are so grateful for the individuals, corporations, and community that comes along side us to help.

If you have ideas for how your organization can help protect pride, please email info@columbusinpride.org

Lisa Huffman
Festival Director