East Central Minnesota Pride: Hosting Community Pride Since 2005

With a city population of around 3,100, the woodsy getaway, originally founded in 1881 as a railway town, has blossomed into a logging community and oasis for water lovers and nature enthusiasts. Pine City may be a small town, but the vibrant community is to owe for the birthplace of rural-prides alike.

The year was 2005 when the East Central Men’s Circle gathered for what we now know as the first rural pride. What started as around 70 gay, bisexual, transgendered and questioning men coming together for a pride pot-luck style event, was eventually joined by the Purple Circle, the regional PFLAG chapter and other groups to vitalize and deepen the advocacy efforts and community within the LGBTQ+ community.

Last year, attendance was around 800 people, with a projected attendance of nearly 1,000 for this year’s pride, according to East Central Minnesota Pride Chairperson, Aaron Bombard. This year’s pride will take place Saturday, June 1st from 12 p.m.-5 p.m. at Robinson Park, 200 5th St. SE, Pine City.

“It’s always kind of scary, leaving the suburbs as a gay person,” Bombard said. “But, Pine City is overwhelmingly welcoming, and I think that so much of that has to do with what originally started in 2005.”

This year’s pride will work to accommodate the large number of younger individuals that come to ECM Pride, Bombard said. This year, the bands Rebel Queens, Salty Dog, and The Minors are booked to perform.

A request was also submitted for Governor Tim Walz to formally speak at East Central Minnesota Pride, as last year a state representative was sent from his office to speak, according to Bombard.

East Central Minnesota Pride also holds events as a means of fundraising for Pride, as everything the organization does is funded by donations, except for a grant from the East Central Regional Arts Council, according to Bombard.

One of the biggest events is the annual Silver Social, otherwise known as “Pride, Pies & Drag Bingo,” Bombard added. The event is for seniors 55+, catering to the senior community as a part of the community and allies.

“I work in healthcare, so I have a passion for helping the senior community,” Bombard said. “Accessibility became an issue when we started to have larger bands perform, so this is an opportunity to include older folks.”

It was 2008 when the East Central Minnesota PFLAG chapter was born, having its first booth at East Central Minnesota Pride in 2010. Phil Schroeder, chairman and co-founder of the East Central Minnesota Chapter got involved with PFLAG when his transgender daughter came out to him when she was in the eighth grade.

Meeting at least once a month, the chapter provides open conversations and an open door for friends, families and members of the LGBTQ+ community to have supportive dialogue, added Schroeder.

“My initial reaction was fear,” Schroeder said. “Mine was a vulnerable person coming out in a community that’s very, very conservative, that gay people aren’t visible, and I just saw a big target on her back because I was scared.”

Schroeder and his wife began looking into ways to support their daughter. They stumbled across PFLAG, an organization that aims to support, educate and advocate for LGBTQ+ people and their families, according to Schroeder.

“When we first got involved with pride, you almost knew like you almost knew 80% of the people that were there,” Schroeder said. “It was like the LGBTQ+ community in East Central Minnesota would assemble for a day, and it reminded me of a gigantic family reunion.”

There wasn’t yet a chapter near him, but what Schroeder did find was an address of a couple near him in Ogilvie that had a gay son.

“That gave us right away,” Schroeder said. “My wife called that person and ended up talking to the mom, and then actually from that conversation, probably a year later, they were one of the founding members of our group.”

Nearly eight to ten businesses, ranging from food trucks to restaurants and breweries in Pine City are involved in East Central Minnesota Pride, according to Schroeder.

A lot of people can get weary of pride events and how it could affect their business, especially in a small town, Bombard said.

“It was super fun to see local businesses in Pine City show support from adding pride stickers to their windows, to selling pride merchandise with proceeds donated to PFLAG and even local bars hosting pride bingo,” Bombard said.

A brewery in Pine City, 320 Brewing held a fundraiser for the PFLAG scholarship program by designing a pride t-shirt, and it has been ongoing for the last four years, Schroeder said.

“That was one of those things where they were, you know, this thing we talked about a lot in PFLAG is when you’re an advocate or you’re a parent, you have to kind of come out as well, and the same goes for businesses,” Schroeder said.     

Becoming good friends, Schroeder said when the owners first announced the Pride merchandise and support for the community they got over 100 positive messages and raised $600.

Even larger corporations, such as Walmart and Target have given back to the community, Bombard added. Walmart makes an annual donation to East Central Minnesota Pride, while the local general manager of Cambridge Target comes to the event to hand out Target Pride swag and water bottles near the entry point,  Bombard said.

“Pride here has just been a real, true community celebration of diverse people,” Schroeder said. “It’s this really strong effort that we have a limited number of individuals in these rural areas, like the Men’s Circle in the Purple Circle, and all of us come together and nobody competes with each other.”

East Central Minnesota Pride
Saturday, June 1 – 12:00 PM-5:00 PM
Robinson Park, 200 5^th St. SE, Pine City, MN
www.eastcentralminnesotapride.org