A trans flag and a rainbow flag are displayed outside of Crankers Cycling in downtown Lima. A Pride event featuring multiple speakers and a march will take place Saturday at the Allen County Courthouse.
Jacob Espinosa | The Lima News
LIMA — Marchers for this year’s Pride event in Lima will hear from speakers from several organizations before heading out to have their own voices heard in support of LGBTQ rights.
Arienne Childrey of the Northwest Ohio Trans Advocacy, as well as Garrison Bowling and River Harrod of the Ohio Student Activist Alliance, will be joined by Ohio House candidate Dylan Gross as they speak at the Allen County Courthouse at 10 a.m. Saturday.
“We’re looking at really just doing something simple,” Childrey said. “We want to have people come out at the courthouse to hear some speakers that are focused on advocacy this year, especially as we see more and more very dangerous deals coming out of the Ohio Statehouse. Our focus is on motivating and informing, as well as ensuring that people that show up know what’s going on in our statehouse that impacts the LGBTQ community and especially the trans community right now.”
Bowling added that it will be important to show that the LGBTQ community is still in Lima despite events like the recent closure of the nightclub Somewhere in Time, a popular gathering spot for those in Lima’s LGBTQ community.
“I think that young people in Lima need pride more than ever, with multiple pieces of legislation targeting trans youth at the statehouse,” he said. “We felt it was important to show that even here, there is an LGBT community and they are thriving. We can have pride in that and we shouldn’t be afraid to celebrate it.”
That will be the gist of what the speakers will share with the marchers.
“They’re going to talk about their experiences,” Bowling said. “They’re going to talk about what it’s like growing up queer in Ohio and I think it’s going to be a really empowering thing for the people who live here. And then we’re going to march around the city with signs just to show people that we’re here, we’re queer and we want to celebrate.”
“We’re not looking to do anything that’s going to block the streets,” Childrey said. “I’ve let everyone know that we’re going to march across sidewalks and follow pedestrian roadways, but the important thing is just getting visibility out there to the community that even though you may not see us every day or realize that you see us, there are LGBTQ people in your community. We’re your friends and we’re also your family and coworkers.”
Childrey added that it is important to put a face to people who are often the target of attacks and defamation.
In November, the Department of Homeland Security warned against threats of terrorism to LGBTQ groups, as well as the Jewish community and government and elected officials, following mass shootings at LGBTQ bars in Colorado Springs and Slovakia.
Ohio House Republicans recently passed a bill to block trans students from using bathrooms and locker rooms aligning with their gender identity and even more recently, a house panel cleared a proposal to prohibit minors from receiving gender-affirming care and to ban trans student-athletes in the state from participating in girls’ and women’s sports.
Reach Jacob Espinosa at 567-242-0399.
