Out in Ohio: Stonewall Columbus gets ready for Pride 2025
Digital Reporter David Rees hosts 'Out in Ohio' and chats with Stonewall Columbus executive director Densil Porteous, Pride coordinator and business manager Sierra Prince, and marketing and business coordinator Leo Rodriguez.
Porteous explains that the month-long celebration each June recognizes the achievements of the LGBTQ+ community and remembers the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan, a series of conflicts between police and LGBTQ+ protesters that stretched over six days. Today, Pride commemorates the Stonewall movement with parades, festivals, memorials and more.
'What we then now see today are sort of ancestors or artifacts of what used to be, our Pride marches today are a little bit of celebration, a little bit of history, and most important, remembrance,' Porteous said.
In the wake of federal measures and Ohio Statehouse legislation deemed 'anti-LGBTQ+' by opponents, Porteous said Stonewall is very 'thoughtful and intentional about the message' for Pride. This year's Pride theme, 'United in Power,' is a call for community members to come together 'to see their neighbors' and 'to be free to live as they so choose and to love as they so choose.'
'It's about saying that when we come together we are stronger, we can accomplish more, we can achieve more and we can move forward faster when we work together,' Porteous said. 'I think in isolation we miss the opportunity to help others get to a place of joy and freedom.'
Stonewall's Pride festival begins at 4 p.m. on June 13 at Goodale Park and runs until 10 p.m. with food, vendors, nonprofit organizations, community resources, and live entertainment. The celebration continues at 10:30 a.m. on June 14 with the Pride parade at Broad and High streets. While the city's first march happened in 1981 with just 200, Stonewall Columbus Pride welcomes more than 700,000 visitors today.
'We're just really excited to have nearly 200 businesses comprised of LGBTQ-owned businesses, community organizations, faith-based organizations that are affirming for our community, and we can bring them all to one place,' Prince said.
As Stonewall's parade expands, Prince said it's 'a bit of an untamable beast' with 17,000 to 20,000 Ohioans taking part in this year's march. But, the Pride coordinator is encouraged and energized to see the annual event continue to grow.
'We're there for a purpose and we're there for a protest,' Prince said. 'We encourage folks to stay through the end because we have so many incredible organizations that right up until the end are marching through and we wanna make sure that their voices are heard.'
Part of Stonewall's Pride celebration includes designating this year's Leader of Pride, recognizing an individual or group who use their voice to speak out in support of members of the LGBTQ+ community in central Ohio and beyond. This year's recipient is Slammers, a storied lesbian bar at 202 E. Long St.
'It's a staple in our community,' Rogriguez said. 'Slammers is one of the last lesbian bars in the country and they're really a pillar of our queer community here in Columbus.'
Stonewall's Pride festival and march also serve as the organization's largest annual fundraiser that secures the needed funds to support annual operations and community programs, like support groups and career fairs, at Stonewall's Short North center at 1160 N. High St.
'We are a community center, first and foremost,' Rodriguez said. 'We have a wide variety of in-house programs and community events, but we also open our doors for other community partners to host their events, typically for low cost or for free.'
NBC4's 'Out in Ohio' amplifies the voices, stories and work of Ohio's LGBTQ+ community. Watch this and future 'Out in Ohio' episodes on NBC4i.com and the 'NBC4 Columbus' streaming app on Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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