LGBTQ+

Six people on what Pride means to them

People paint on a banner at a Pride event
People contribute to a painting at the People's Pride festival at Powderhorn Park in Minneapolis on Saturday.
Feven Gerezgiher | MPR News

It's the last weekend of Pride month celebrating LGBTQ+ identities. Twin Cities Pride organizers anticipate a record attendance of more than half a million people over two days.

Saturday afternoon, MPR News asked celebrants: what does Pride mean to you?

Two people pose for a photo
Lake Owens, 23, and Ani Cassellius, 23, (photographed left to right) co-founded the People's Pride festival in Minneapolis in 2021 as an alternative, community-led event. There are no corporate sponsors or police, to honor Pride’s revolutionary origins. The celebration in Powderhorn Park on Saturday included mutual aid like free food, clothing exchanges, and harm reduction services.
Feven Gerezgiher | MPR News

“It's a mixture of joy and righteous rage. I think it's a really important time to reconnect with people and to find camaraderie. I think it's a really great time for stranger love, where you just get those like little moments of excitement between people. And it's also a time to remember like, how much has been done, and still how little we've gotten. How black trans women are still consistently being like the most hurt in our community and that needs to change. How we still need to do a lot of work and there's so much to be angry about - I mean, all the legislation this year. It's a time to reflect and gather and say, ‘how do we as a community feel about it? And what are we going to do about it?’ but also being able to celebrate.”

- Lake Owens, 23, Minneapolis


“I would say it's mostly about queer joy and being happy despite. I think I'm the type of person who wants to live my life with joy at the forefront. And I think joy belongs in revolutionary practices. So yeah, it's just about finding joy and, you know, doing what you got with the cards in your hand.”

- Ani Cassellius, 23, Minneapolis

Man poses for photo
Andi Otto says he has “the best job in the world” as executive director of Twin Cities Pride. He has been attending Pride every year since he came out and has been involved with organizing the festival in Minneapolis for 16 years.
Feven Gerezgiher | MPR News

“Pride means family. Oftentimes you'll hear in the community that we sometimes have to create our own family, right? It's not about who's blood related, but it's about who is your chosen family? When I think about Pride, I think about that piece of it and I think about all the people that come together to protect each other.”

- Andi Otto, 42, Hopkins, Minn.

Person poses with red drink
Ree Edwards drove from Rochester, Minn. to attend the Twin Cities Pride Festival in downtown Minneapolis. She said she never misses a Pride celebration.
Feven Gerezgiher | MPR News

“It’s a place where everyone can belong with each other. It doesn't really matter who you are, what you are, what you believe in, who you love. This is a place for you. Like my friend said, you can literally come out with anything you are obsessed with and didn't know where you wanted to wear it. But you could wear it at Pride and have absolutely no judgment from anybody because that's what it is. It's just love and acceptance and just people. There's never any issues here, you know what I mean? Like in other spaces. So that's what it means to me, acceptance and love.”

- Ree Edwards, 48, Rochester

Person poses with a bisexual flag cape
First-time Pride attendee Devin Jackson wears the bisexual flag draped over his shoulders.
Feven Gerezgiher | MPR News

“It’s like a celebration, but I think it's also like a way of letting people know: this community exists. We're not going away. Definitely, there's been like a lot of trouble that our group has had to go over and I think we just celebrate that. We're still here and we're gonna keep it going.”

- Devin Jackson, 19, Apple Valley

Man poses for photo at Pride
Leopoldo Becerra poses for a portrait at the Twin Cities Pride Festival in Minneapolis.
Feven Gerezgiher | MPR News

“Pride, to me, means the ability to express yourself without any kind of outside influence. True, authentic self.”

- Leopoldo Becerra, 27, New Hope