Iowa City Pride expanding celebrations with festival

Iowa City Pride is hosting its biggest celebration this weekend in its five-decade history.

With more than 100 vendors, about 10 hours of performance programming and a two-part parade, the Iowa City Pride Board is prepping for a large crowd to surpass last year’s approximate 15,000 attendees. The Iowa City Pride Festival is from noon to 10 p.m. Saturday, spanning across downtown Iowa City for its 52nd year.

Joe Reilly, president of the Iowa City Pride Board, said the organization went to the city earlier in the year to request an edit to its permit, allocating an additional block downtown to spread out the event and fit more vendors.

“It seems like people are really ready to get back out to festivals,” Reilly said.

The festival will include performances from drag royalty, music acts from various LGBTQ artists, a parade with paid and community participants and vendors with food and informational materials.

‘Stronger together’

Amid recent state legislation targeting the LGBTQ community, Reilly said the upcoming pride festival acts as an opportunity for a celebration void of negativity.

“We thought it was important for this festival to come with a united message,” Reilly said. “We wanted to make sure that we weren't returning hate with hate, and we wanted to instead focus our energy on each other — not the opposition.”

This year, the Pride Festival’s slogan is “Stronger together.” Reilly said that message was born from “discouraging” signs from the Iowa Legislature over bills that were both passed and introduced.

Lucket Kiche, a board member and diversity officer for the Iowa City Pride Board, said the motto can be interpreted at “face-value.” He said collaboration and working together allows for resilience within the LGBTQ community.

“We are always combating politics and people who want to see us down,” Kiche said. “When you're visible and you don't back down from fear mongering, then that strength of community shows others that you can't just break down somebody, or a set of people.”

Intersectionality and representation

As a diversity officer, Kiche emphasized the importance of various intersecting identities and inclusivity within pride celebrations.

Kiche said legislation and violence against the LGBTQ community has been targeted especially toward transgender individuals and people of color.

“When you try to eradicate a set of people, it brings out anger and fear,” Kiche said. “It's ever more important to keep continuing and building on the traditions of pride because we're not going anywhere.”

Kiche also said programming specifically catered toward LGBTQ youth is one of the most important parts of celebrating pride. He explained that kids need to see adult members of the LGBTQ community in a celebratory context so they understand there is a future for them.

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“We just want to make sure that everybody knows that they're welcome and can come to these events,” Kiche said.

Representation as a whole is also a key component of pride celebrations, according to both Kiche and Reilly. The Iowa City Pride website states the primary goal of the organization is to “increase positive visibility” for the all of the LGBTQ community.

Reilly said the festival is a direct manifestation of this mission.

“Visibility matters,” Reilly said. “You look out at thousands of smiling faces, and you don't know what their experience was before this day, or all the days of their lives, and how things in their life may not be optimal or affirming.”

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