East-Central Minnesota Pride is the yearly celebration of the

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

, and

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

(

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

) residents in the rural area near

Pine City, Minnesota Pine City is a city in and the county seat of Pine County, in east central Minnesota, United States. The population was 3,130 at the 2020 census. A portion of the city is located on the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation. Founded as a railway town, ...

, United States. At the time of its inception, it was the first rural community in the U.S. to hold a Pride It was also the first pride gathering held outside of a metropolitan area in Minnesota. The celebration is held during the first weekend in June in

Background

East Central Minnesota is made of

Pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

, Isanti, Chisago, Kanabec, and Mille Lacs counties. The 2010 US Census identified Pine City and its surrounding area home to one of the highest concentration same-sex coupled households of any non-metropolitan areas in the state. To recognize the 5th anniversary of the East Central Men’s Circle which provides support to gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning men in the area, a picnic was held in 2005. Hundreds of people turned out for the occasion. This event is recognised as the first East Central Minnesota Pride event. East-Central Minnesota Pride became an official nonprofit in 2010. In 2020 the event was canceled to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Other communities organizations and groups have since become involved in the planning and running of the event including East Central Purple Circle, group of Lesbian, Queer & allied women in the region, and East Central Minnesota Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (

PFLAG PFLAG is the United States' first and largest organization uniting parents, families, and allies with people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+). PFLAG National is the national organization, which provides support to ...

Controversies

;Counter-Protests Early Prides were subject to

counter-protest A counter-protest (also spelled counterprotest) is a protest action which takes place within the proximity of an ideologically opposite protest. The purposes of counter-protests can range from merely voicing opposition to the objective of the othe ...

s across town in a separate park, and were billed as pro family events. Rural Pine County residents claimed they were offended by a Pride advertisement stating, "It's okay to be GAY in Pine City", featuring a pink boa on the town's iconic monument, François the Voyageur. ;"Bad Apples" Comment In 2014, Pine County Commissioner Mitch Pangerl called Pride organizers "

bad apples The bad apples metaphor originated as a warning of the corrupting influence of one corrupt or sinful person on a group: that "one bad apple can spoil the barrel". Over time the concept has been used to describe the opposite situation, where "a ...

" at a County Board meeting for using a community sign on school property to promote the event. The sign referenced was used by more than 20 community groups and

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

s until East Central Minnesota Pride, also a nonprofit, wanted space to promote its event; then, the school voted to use the sign only for school-related events. ;Host Martina Marraccino In 2022, concerns were expressed that Marraccino was an inappropriate emcee for the Pride event due to his past experience as a

pornographic film Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, sex films, and 18+ films are films that present sexually explicit subject matter in order to arouse and satisfy the viewer. Pornographic films present sexual fantasies and usually include eroticall ...

actor. The City of Pine City stood by the event and did not withhold any necessary permitting for it to occur.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

East Central Minnesota Pride
- Official Website {{Coord, 45, 49, 38, N, 92, 58, 9, W, display=title LGBT events in Minnesota Tourist attractions in Pine County, Minnesota Festivals in Minnesota Annual events in Minnesota LGBT culture in Minnesota