On Saturday, June 24, hundreds of people will gather in Jones Park in Appleton to celebrate the beautiful diversity of human gender and love. We will rejoice in the joy and potential of identities discovered and lived both in public and private.

We will eat, embrace and laugh together without worrying about what people think (and then laugh and cry about what people think). We will celebrate monumental victories in order to energize ourselves to fight crushing new setbacks. We will celebrate life while mourning so many young deaths.

This is Pride, an event rooted deeply in history and as urgently needed as ever. Join us for food, live performances, visit more than 50 vendors and more. All are welcome as they are.

Advertisement for the first Pride parade in New York City [Image source: Digital Public Library of America]

Kyle Armstrong

Kyle Armstrong is a member of the Appleton Pride 2023 Planning Committee and community engagement coordinator at the Community Foundation.