Toledo celebrates its Pride

The Glass City Rollers roller derby team, local businesses, performers and members of the community decorated themselves as well as the streets of Toledo for the second-annual Pride Festival this past weekend.

The festival celebrates the local lesbian, gay, transgender, questioning and allies (LGBTQA) community.

"Last year we had our first Toledo Pride at the Erie Street Market Downtown and roughly 2,500 participants attended! This year, we hope to at least double that number and expect hundreds to be coming from many other surrounding cities," said Lexi Staples, event director for Toledo Pride, in an announcement for the Toledo Free Press.

OutSkirts Toledo in its new location on Lewis Avenue, started things off with "Prom Before Pride" Friday at 8:30 p.m. This was a "dress-to-impress" event and tons of free rainbow gear was given away for Saturday's parade. This year's festival featured Toledo's first Pride Parade on Saturday afternoon.

The parade began at 2 p.m. downtown on Washington Street and continued to Promenade Park where bands, vendors and information kiosks were waiting. Floats and decorated cars paraded the streets throwing beads and candy to the audience.

Toledo City Councilman Steve Steel and entertainer Hershae Chocolatae served as grand marshals for the parade.

By 3 p.m. the crowd made its way to the event space at Promenade Park for the Community Connection Carnival.

Local musician Kyle White opened the festival where bands such as Spectrum, No Excuses, The Shiz, Dirty Damn Band, What's Next, Arctic Clam, Bitch and Shelly McWulf performed successively until 10 p.m.

Following the performances, a Drag Extravaganza took place featuring local drag performers Felaciana Thunderpussy, Amber Stone, Deja D. Dellataro, Sylvia Austin, London Neal and Makayla Sinclaire Styles.

Male impersonators the Bois with OutSkirts and Blayke Shooter performed as well as burlesque dancers The Underskirts.

The celebration continued at the Official Toledo Pride After Party at Bretz Bar on Adams Street featuring local drag performances and entertainment beginning at 1 a.m.

OutSkirts Bar also hosted the Toledo Pride Post-Party and Drag-A-Palooza which featured local bands and drag performers on Sunday.

My House Diner, located next door to the new OutSkirts, served food in the parking lot for the event as well.

Lexi Staples, co-owner of OutSkirts Toledo, initiated the organization of the city's pride event last year.

She attended multiple Pride events in various cities and was curious why Toledo lacked one.

Staples and seven other members of the Toledo Pride Committee created these events to help increase awareness and support for equal rights.

The Toledo Pride Committee worked in close collaboration with Equality Toledo in the creation of the Pride event.

Their mission statement says, "Equality Toledo works for equality for all Ohioans regardless of their marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression through education, anti-defamation efforts, and activism."

Toledo Pride was a culmination of efforts of many organizations and individuals of the LGBTQA community created to inform, involve and entertain people in attendance. However, there were some mixed responses at Promenade Park this weekend.

"I feel like the gay community advertises this gay pride parade to only the gay community — where are all the straight people at," said Derek Vandegrift, 22, who attended the event. "I know that there are a lot of straight people who support gay rights and they're not here. It's because they don't know about Toledo Pride. It is the second year and they should have learned from the first."

Paul Gallardo, 36, said although he had fun at Toledo Pride, other Pride events he attended, such as Columbus Pride, were bigger and "the whole city celebrated."

"At this one, it was just a small area of the city and a short group of people," Gallardo said. "It was much better in Columbus, and it could be a lot better here."