"We wanted to provide that for our community. "Everyone was so isolated last year and we want to do something positive for the community," Fiebig said. The emphasis on the picnic should keep enough space between people, Fiebig said. The event, created by Vicente Lezama Morales, is a family-friendly gathering in the city's Lakeside Park. Organizers feel comfortable holding events in smaller communities because of the wide availability of vaccines, their smaller populations and their wide-open spaces, Casey Fiebig, co-organizer of Fond du Lac's third annual Pride Picnic on June 27, said. "My friends are part of the LGBTQI community and because of what’s going on in the world I want them to feel love," Lindahl said. She estimates about a quarter of the village identifies as part of the LGBTQ community. RELATED: Wisconsin's LGBTQ communities recognize, celebrate Pride Month despite COVID-19 limitationsīut, on the western edge of the state in Stockholm, Lake Pepin Pride organizer Jennifer Lindahl isn't sure how many attendees to expect. That's OK, she said, because the weekend's events are about gathering together as a village after a turbulent 2020. RELATED: LGBTQ Pride festival returns to Stevens Point with big ambitions, new leadership and chance to celebrate in-person Ryan Goszkowicz, event director for Point Pride, said he hopes the success of this year's event will make Stevens Point a destination for LGBTQ culture in central Wisconsin.
"It’s nice to have that positive event happening but also being able to express ourselves as the people we are without hate or backlash, hopefully."Ģ021 may be the year to stake a claim for smaller events. Specifically for the LGBTQ+ community and BIPOC community to be able to celebrate themselves and not be at a protest," Eaton said. "For me personally, holding Pride after everything gives us a chance to feel positive after a year of vitriol. Pride commemorates the anniversary of the riots at the Stonewall Inn that occurred after a violent police raid at the popular New York City gay bar. Pride itself, however, has always been an act of protest LGBTQ people took to the streets to make their presence visible through marches and celebrations. That event drew a crowd of more than 1,000 people and he hopes a similar number of people show up this year to express joy, not sadness and anger. "Point in general needs a bigger Pride," event organizer Reggie Eaton said.Ģ020 was a year of action and strife and for Eaton, a high school senior at the Charles Fernadez Center who organized last year's Black Lives Matter protest after the murder of George Floyd. In Stevens Point, this year's June 12 Pride festival will be double in length and size to its 2019 iteration at the city's Pfiffner Pioneer Park along the Wisconsin River. LGBTQ event organizers and advocates in central Wisconsin were intent on trying to make in-person Pride events work this year. 'Holding Pride after everything gives us a chance to feel positive after a year of vitriol' In some cases, small-town organizers are expecting bigger events than prior to the pandemic. Some activists feel the pause of large celebrations that attract broad commercial support also gives people time to reflect on what Pride means, its origins and the attacks LGBTQ rights in 2021. At the same time, organizations in Milwaukee and Madison backed off from returning because of the logistics of events in serving thousands of people and ensuring public safety even as the COVID-19 pandemic dwindles. Like the small-town getaway, small and mid-sized Wisconsin communities will see the return of in-person Pride events this month. It's a lakeside village of 79 people and the event, largely outside, will see the hallmarks of Pride - drag queens, glitter, rainbows and art. Stockholm, in rural western Wisconsin, will hold its very first LGBTQ Pride event June 11-13 along Lake Pepin. With the state's largest LGBTQ Pride celebrations not returning for in-person events this year because of the waning COVID-19 pandemic, smaller communities in Wisconsin have a chance to make a name for themselves - including what one group thinks might be the world's smallest Pride event.