June is National Gay Pride Month, and Memphis’ annual festivities are usually held the first weekend of the month. But this year, Pride Weekend is happening later, due to a change in the managing organization. Mid-South Pride Inc., the new group in charge of the activities, will host the annual pride parade Saturday and a picnic on Sunday.
For the past 10 years, an organization called Memphis Pride Inc. ran the annual festival, but it was dissolved for undisclosed reasons in May. A group of concerned members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community held a public meeting and decided to save the gay pride fest by forming a new organization, Mid-South Pride, Inc.
“We’re not going to treat Memphis like it’s some island by itself,” said Gary Wilkerson, president of Mid-South Pride, Inc. “We should be spanning across nearby states and working with other pride groups.”
The parade is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. Saturday at the corner of Cooper and Higbee. n