From The Editor: Fly Your Flag Wherever You Are!

Pride Season is here! Are you ready to fly your flag?

There’s a lot of flags to fly. One for each identity we embrace and celebrate. At any given pride event, you will see them flying high. Or, worn as capes.

No matter which flag you salute, there’s a Pride celebration near you. Based on our Pride calendar, we anticipate over 40 such events across our region from May into October.

Last year, I set out to visit a number of Pride events across the state of Minnesota. Stops were made in Rochester, Northfield, Golden Valley, Marshall, Alexandria, Chaska, Monticello, West St. Paul, Columbia Heights, and Austin.

Why so many Pride events? And, why those locations?

Consider the history of our state. Not just the recent history, but in going back 50 or so years. The progress we made to get to the point where we do not need a culturally specific neighborhood to live in or to patronize. That was 25 years ago, when people thought that to be LGBTQ+, you had to migrate to the Twin Cities.

Thanks to the Internet and other forms of connectivity, you can be LGBTQ+ anywhere in the world – almost. That is why you are seeing a lot of regional, small town, and suburban LGBTQ+ Pride events and community organizations springing up across the Upper Midwest. The response has been tremendous!

It is easy for a Twin Cities-based LGBTQ+ magazine to only serve its home area. That’s not how I see things. For the past two years, I believe that there are many stories to be told beyond the Interstate 494 and 694 loop. I encouraged us to tell those stories – and we’re doing so.

By going to places across the state, it provided a sense of place. Of what is happening on the ground a few hours away from home. To see the positives and the challenges each community face. To see new people who have a story to tell.

If you’re looking for justification to attend one of these Pride events across the state – and no disrespect to Twin Cities Pride – this quote from one of the original board members of East Central Minnesota Pride, Don Quaintance, said it best:

“Small-town pride events are the ones that create the change. It’s easy to blend in with 500,000 of your friends at the Twin Cities Pride festival and another to be one of 500 in Pine City. That takes a good deal of courage.”

This is the year to celebrate close to home. Your home.