By David Drissel

The fifth annual Fort Dodge Pride Festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday on Central Avenue between 10th and 12th Streets in downtown Fort Dodge.

This is the first time the event has occurred on Central Avenue since the inaugural Pride Festival of 2021.

“By hosting the event in the heart of our downtown, we hope to support LGBTQ+ owned businesses and allies who stand with our community year-round while also shining a spotlight on the many local businesses that make our town unique,” Fort Dodge Pride Festival Board President Rhiannon Rippke-Koch said.

During the past four years, the Fort Dodge Pride Festival has been held at other locations in town. Each June festival has attracted 400 to 600 participants, she said.

“The Pride Festival is more than simply a celebration,” said Rippke-Koch. “It is an opportunity to strengthen our community by promoting inclusion, understanding, and respect for all residents.”

“Every person deserves to feel welcomed, valued, and safe in the place they call home, and a Pride Festival helps foster that sense of belonging,” she added. “It provides a space where LGBTQ+ individuals, families, friends, and allies can come together to celebrate their identities, share their experiences, and build meaningful connections.”

In Fort Dodge and hundreds of other cities, LGBTQ+ pride festivals and parades occur annually, mostly in June. Across the U.S., June is commemorated as LGBTQ+ Pride Month, largely because of the historic Stonewall Uprising of June 1969.

The origins of the modern LGBTQ+ movement are traced back to the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. At that time, any type of homosexual behavior was illegal in New York and most other states — including Iowa.

Police departments would routinely conduct raids on gay bars and often arrest, harass, and assault LGBTQ+ people in the process. On the night of June 28, 1969, however, Stonewall Inn patrons spontaneously resisted arrest for the first time, and engaged in several consecutive nights of protest in the vicinity.

One year later in June 1970, to mark the anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, the first “gay pride” parades and festivals occurred in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Such events soon spread nationwide to hundreds of other cities.

“Stonewall became a starting point of Pride and represented the shift from LGBTQ+ individuals living in silence to being visible and demanding equality,” Rippke-Koch explained.

In the aftermath of Stonewall, new and more demanding LGBTQ+ rights organizations were established. Their activism led eventually to the repeal of most state and federal laws that discriminated against LGBTQ+ Americans.

However, there have been many recent efforts by conservative activists and politicians to turn back the clock and reverse the gains made in LGBTQ+ rights.

“Stonewall was the first fight in a struggle we are still fighting today,” said Hunter Hanson, vice president of the Fort Dodge Pride Festival. “For us to exist and thrive is a form of resistance against those who want to see us gone.”

Defenders of LGBTQ+ rights claim that Pride Festivals often have positive benefits for local communities such as Fort Dodge.

“A Pride Festival can benefit the local economy by attracting visitors, supporting local businesses, and showcasing our town as a welcoming destination,” Rippke-Koch said. “Communities that celebrate diversity are often seen as vibrant, progressive, and attractive places to live, work, and visit.”

Rippke-Koch said that Fort Dodge’s Pride Festival is a free “family-friendly event,” featuring a full day of community speakers, local vendors, food trucks, and entertainment for all ages.

Throughout the day, attendees will be able to enjoy speakers and performances on the main stage of the festival, located in the open green space next to the Carver Building.

Xander Lyons Frost is serving as the master of ceremonies, and will be helping “to guide attendees through a day of celebration, connection, and community,” she said.

In addition, there will be live music performed on the patio at River Hops Brewing, hosted by Evan Pratt.

“The Pride Festival is an opportunity for everyone to come together, celebrate diversity, support local businesses, and foster hope for the future, especially for our young people,” Rippke-Koch said. “It is an opportunity to create a community where everyone feels welcomed, respected, and valued for who they are.”

Hanson concurred, explaining that participating in the local Pride Festival has been a positive and transformative experience for himself and other LGBTQ+ people in Fort Dodge.

“I never expected to find so many people like me in my small town,” he said. “I’ve received so many opportunities and joys from Pride I can’t begin to list all of them.”

“I felt so alone before I came out, I was so scared coming out would cause me to lose everything,” he recalled. “When I did come out, I lost some people in my life but gained so much more.”

“I have a wonderful partner, family members who truly support me, and a community I would do anything for,” Hanson said. “I’m truly blessed for this opportunity and my life has been made all the better through this festival and our members.”

Other Pride Festival board members made similar comments. Riley Walstrom, for example, said that participating on the Pride committee allows him to become more involved in the Fort Dodge community.

“I’m grateful that I have the opportunity to be a part of something that allows people to show up authentically and be celebrated for being themselves,” he said.

Another local board member, Kara Burson, said that she has her own personal connection to LGBTQ+ Pride.

“Pride means honoring who I am and where I come from,” she said. “As a small-town Iowa lesbian, it’s about living honestly, finding connection, and knowing that my life and love belong here just as much as anyone else.”