ROANOKE, Va. – The 33rd annual Roanoke Pride Festival took place at Elmwood Park all day Sunday, spreading a message of love, acceptance, and equality for everyone in and out of the LGBTQIA+ community.
“We are celebrating everybody’s chance to be themselves,” Roanoke Pride Public Relations Director Samantha Newell said. “The sense of community and equity, and inclusion.”
The festival was just one part of an entire weekend of events ranging from drag shows to dance parties. Vendors and health panels were also readily available for people to visit.
Sherry Howard, a regional co-leader of the Roanoke Divisions of Free Mom Hugs, heard stories from multiple festivalgoers who paid her booth a visit.
“We’ve heard stories from ‘I haven’t gotten a hug from my mother in 14 years’ or ‘hey I came out to my parents today and they were the most supportive and I’m so happy that I did’,” Howard said.
According to Newell, events like the Pride Festival give people a place where they can be comfortable just being themselves.
“It is so important to make sure that people who are typically silenced or are pushed to the side or people who don’t go home to a safe space have somewhere that they can be themselves,” Newell said. “That they can feel comfortable being what they truly genuinely are.”
It also spreads a message that everyone and anyone can be an ally and be accepting of one another.
“Everybody loves their own life and has their own journey,” Felix Marty said. “You just got to be accepting of what they’re going through.”
