Muncie holds fifth annual ‘pride’ event at weekend

The town of Muncie held its fifth annual Pride on Sept. 6 at Canan Commons. The event itself was filled with a variety of vendors, live music and other activities, but perhaps the most important part of the celebration was the people.

One attendee, Mars Bresswood, found the environment enjoyable. One of their favorite things is seeing all the people, as well as the music. But more importantly, in the end everyone comes together.

“Specifically, I like when it gets closer to the end of the night. It usually gets to the point where everyone’s dancing and that’s my favorite thing; You’re able to be entirely yourself. It’s a sort of safe space,” Bresswood said.

Along with Bresswood, many others stated that Pride was a safe space for them one of them being, drag queen Athena Verbena, who was attending this year’s pride, voices how they want to show how it doesn’t matter how old you are and how you can be whoever you want to be.

The idea of “safe spaces” for queer people was a widely appreciated concept. Several representatives from an organization called “Free Mom Hugs” attended the event. The nonprofit organization was founded by Sarah Cunningham, a mother who had to choose between the church and her child after he came out.

While attending Oklahoma Pride, she wore a white button that said “free mom hugs”. When she wore her shirt, people approached her and asked for hugs. She was inspired to start the group. One representative of the organization, Kathleen Berberich, has a queer son of her own and believes in supporting the environment of Pride.

“Personally, I think pride is a time to celebrate everyone and be who you are, no matter who that is or who you love,” said Berberich. “Pride is great, and it’s important to me because it’s a place where my son can go.”

In addition to the importance of Pride as a safe place for her son, Berberich additionally stated that Pride is important now more than ever due to the political state of America. She went on to say how this administration is wanting people to go back “in the closet” and her response to that is,

“We won’t have that, and we’ve got to be strong and say, ‘No, you are who you are, and you have every right to be in public spaces.’ We are not taking it sitting down.” Berberich said.

The political movements of America’s current administration had seemingly caught the eye of many other individuals and organizations as well. Meredith Nichols, a school librarian and member of the “Indiana Freedom to Read” movement, believes in fighting against book censorship in this way.

“As a librarian, pride is more important now than ever because we want to make sure that we are providing information to students and to people in general and say that queer people exist,” said Nichols.

One of her biggest goals is to give students an opportunity to see themselves in their reading. She also stated that if you see a book that someone is trying to get banned, be the one to take a stand. Even if you don’t go to school board meetings, Nichols suggested making a post and saying something like “this isn’t right” or “the ‘good guys’ never are the ones that censor books”.

On top of information censoring, many attendees believe that medical issues are also a concern. Betsy Pearson, the Community Engagement Coordinator for Madison County Aspire, Indiana Health, believes in her company’s motto.

“Our motto is that we service everyone. We do not turn anyone away, and that’s in regard to servicing as well as employment. We have various services. We do primary care and family medicine, behavioral health, addiction and therapy. We also have deaf services, housing and employment,” said Pearson.

“Pride is a safe space where everyone can get together and be themselves. You can see everyone from all ages. Young people can see that as you get older, there are other people in the community that are older too, and you’re not alone.” Verbena said.

Contact Seyla Ray with questions via email seyla.ray@bsu.edu