Indy Pride Festival, formerly Circle City IN Pride, is the annual week of LGBT pride events in Indianapolis. The week is organized by

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 ...

organization Indy Pride, Inc., and has been held under this name and organization for over a decade. In recent years, more than 95,000 gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and heterosexual people have attended the festival. Indy Pride's Parade and Festival is held the 2nd Saturday in June, with a week of events leading up to it, in honor of the Stonewall Riots and in accordance with other United States pride festivals. Indy Pride Festival is the largest LGBT pride event in Indiana. According to former Indy Pride President, Gary Brackett, "The festival and events are to celebrate gay pride and bring the community together. We're trying to bring visibility to the greater Indianapolis community of how many gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people there are here."

History

The first known Pride week in Indianapolis was celebrated in 1976 with the support of Metropolitan Community Church and Gay Peoples Union. However, the first Indy Pride, Inc., sponsored event began in 1996 as a week-long celebration of events. Jeffrey Cleary and Bill McKinley served as Co-Chairs for the city's first ever pride week. The celebration held 10 events in seven days, culminating with a pride fair on the downtown Indy Canal. In 2011, the festival broke records by attracting a record estimate 70,000 attendees. In 2012, the week of events opened with the new "Rainbow 5k Run/Walk". The festival saw the addition of a 2nd stage, as well as an expansion in family-friendly entertainment. Attendance grew every year in the following decade until 2020 and 2021 when the event was not held in person due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Indy Pride Parade

The first Indy Pride Parade stepped off in 2002, founded by Gary Brackett. The first parade was small with only eight participants and lasted 15 minutes. It has since grown into a 2-hour-plus-long event.

Anti-Pride protests and opposition

In a 2016 interview, Gary Brackett acknowledged that a few protestors oppose the event every year. According to Brackett, both the crowd and the anti-Pride protestors have received police protection.

Festival

The festival includes several attractions for the LGBT community and allies, to browse and watch. Local

groups and supportive businesses sponsor booths catering to the community as a whole, as well as special interest groups. Surrounding the park, food vendors and other businesses also set up displays to show support and to market to the community. The main stage overlooks the event and serves as a centerpiece for the festival. National and local talents provide performances from the stage. Performances have included the Pride of Indy Band, singers, national recording artists, drag performances, DJs, and speeches. Performances have ranged from pure entertainment, such as RuPaul who performed at the close of the festival in 2006 and

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who performed in 2009, to informational speeches, such as from Candace Gingrich, who in 2007, gave a speech for the Human Rights Campaign on

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

issues. In 2012, the festival added a 2nd stage dedicated to DJs and dance music, as well as an area designated for family friendly entertainment. 2013 marked the 25th year of Indy's public LGBT Pride celebration.

Attendance

Estimated annual attendance, beginning with 2002:

Cadillac Barbie Indy Pride Parade

The annual parade began in 2002, and runs from Mass Ave, which is the city's unofficial

gayborhood A gay village is a geographical area with generally recognized boundaries that is inhabited or frequented by many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBT) people. Gay villages often contain a number of gay-oriented establis ...

, to the heart of

downtown Indianapolis Downtown Indianapolis is a neighborhood area and the central business district of Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Downtown is bordered by Interstate 65, Interstate 70, and the White River, and is situated near the geographic center of Ma ...

. Parade grand marshals have included celebrities and politicians, including the late congresswoman

Julia Carson Julia May Carson (née Porter; July 8, 1938 – December 15, 2007) was a member of the United States House of Representatives for from 1997 until her death in 2007 (numbered as the 10th District from 1997 to 2003).

. The parade grew to more than 100 floats and participants by 2009.

Grand marshals

*2006:

, congresswoman *2007: Del Shores, writer and producer *2009: Broadway cast of ''

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'' *2010: Indy Bag Ladies *2011: Cadillac Barbie (Gary K. Brackett), founder *2012:

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, youngest diver to ever qualify for the USA Diving Olympic Team Trials, and adopted son of two fathers. *2013: Indiana Youth Grouphttp://www.circlecityinpride.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Pride-Press-Release-IYG.pdf *2014: Coburn "Coby" Palmer (one of the original Indy Bag Ladies),

Layshia Clarendon Layshia Renee Clarendon (born May 2, 1991) is an American professional basketball player who is currently a free agent. Clarendon is the first openly non-binary WNBA player, and the first active WNBA player to complete a top surgery. Career C ...

, point guard for the Indiana Fever, Megan Roberson of Freedom Indiana, and Rick Sutton of Indiana Equality Action for their efforts in the law arena. *2015:

Greg Ballard Gregory Alan Ballard (born November 20, 1954) is an American politician, author, and businessman who served as the 48th mayor of Indianapolis, Indiana. He is a retired Lieutenant Colonel from the United States Marine Corps. On November 6, 20 ...

, Mayor of Indianapolis *2016: Alice Langford, community advocate; and Betty Wilson, president and CEO of The Health Foundation of Greater Indianapolis, Inc. *2017: Chris Paulsen and Deanna Medsker, LGBTQ rights advocates *2018: Finley C. Norris, Margaret Irish, Mark A. Lee, Terrell Parker, Jenna Scott, Wes Scott *2019: Shelly Fitzgerald, State Senator J. D. Ford, Trinity Haven, and Low Pone *2020: Indy Bag Ladies and

Indianapolis City-County Council The City-County Council of Indianapolis and Marion County is the legislative body of the combined government of the city of Indianapolis and the county of Marion in the state of Indiana. The council was established as part of the consolidation o ...

members Ali Brown, Ethan Evans, Keith Potts, and Zach Adamson (parade canceled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

) *2021: Parade not held due to the

*2022: Trans Solutions Research & Resource Center, GenderNexus, ACLU of Indiana,

members Zach Adamson, Ali Brown, Ethan Evans, and Keith Potts

External links

Indy Pride

Indy Pride FestivalPride of Indy BandsIndiana Youth GroupIndianapolis PFLAG

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Circle City In Pride LGBT events in Indiana Festivals in Indianapolis Festivals established in 2002 2002 establishments in Indiana Pride parades in the United States