Baton Rouge’s Eighth Annual Pride Festival will take place this Saturday in downtown Baton Rouge. Festival organizer Tom Merrill said that the festival has always meant to build a sense of unity within the community.
The festival began as a picnic held by the Metropolitan Community Church of Baton Rouge. Since then, each year the attendance has nearly doubled according to Merrill.
Pride Festival includes a wide array of performances from entertainers like comedy troupe The Austin Baptist Women, musical act The Shiz, a community resource fair and a Blessing of Relationships.
Inspired by the California legislature passing marriage equality, The Blessing of Relationships conducted by Metropolitan Community of Baton Rouge Minister Keith Mozingo gives a taste of what it’s like to have an LGBT relationship blessed by a minister.
Sixty-two groups at the resource fair, which provides support and services to the LGBT community. Business featured at the resource fair provide LGBT-specific services, letting people know which are GBT friendly.
The food and drinks consist of picnic fare including jambalaya, sandwiches and cookies, a nod to its humble beginnings as a community picnic.
The festival usually attracts a small group of protesters. Merrill said they are a small minority and that the friends and neighboring businesses surrounding the festival give nothing but support.
Merrill doesn’t want to take credit for starting all Louisiana Pride Festivals, but he has met with people from Lafayette and Lake Charles who have now started hosting their own pride festivals in their respective cities for the first time.
What separates Baton Rouge Pride Festival from other LGBT festivals is the entire event will be indoors with air conditioning, which might be relief for those who want to celebrate LGBT pride while beating the summer heat.
Merrill stresses that the BR Pride festival is a fun educational experience for all — young, old, LGBT or straight — and there will be plenty of alternative families showing that their model of parenting is effective.
Merrill wants to improve visibility with the LGBT rights movement more so than pass legislature although politicians who work with the LGBT movement will be in attendance.
“Every year, Baton Rouge Pride gets bigger, and people say they enjoy it more. We hope to have even more participants than ever before this year,” Merrill said.
Pride festival will be held from noon to 6 p.m. in the atrium of the Belle of Baton Rouge Casino on France Street. There is no admission fee, but Merrill encourages donations, and to bring one non-perishable food item in support of the Baton Rouge Food Bank.