Girl, 12, Wants To Bring Pride Parade To NW Suburbs

BUFFALO GROVE, IL – A Buffalo Grove girl is not ashamed to let the world know she is "12 years old, gay and proud." Now, she is hoping a Pride Parade in her hometown will help those who might not be quite as comfortable about being gay to feel accepted. If everything goes as planned, and the $30,000 in funds is raised, Molly Pinta, a seventh grader at Twin Groves Middle School who rocks rainbow-colored hair, is aiming to have her pride parade take to the streets of Buffalo Grove next June.

Molly's inspiration to spearhead organizing the parade came after she attended Aurora's first Pride Parade last month, which, she said, "was one of the most beautiful things she's ever seen." She envisions the Buffalo Grove Pride Parade, like Aurora's parade, would be "very family-friendly" with "children, adults, elderly ... everyone included," she said.

"It was inspiring to see a parade that's main focus was acceptance and equality," Molly said in a video posted to YouTube. "Growing up in the closet is hard. But seeing Buffalo Grove support the gay community, it would make someone in the closet feel seen and accepted. Which is all someone needs."

• Aurora's First Pride Parade In Pictures

In total, $30,000 is needed to make Molly's dream a reality. Molly's mom, Carolyn Heyman Pinta, created a GoFundMe page to bring in the necessary funds for the parade. As of Monday afternoon, the online fund-raiser has brought in over $5,000.

Molly has drawn plenty of support so for the Buffalo Grove Pride Parade, which she hopes will be held on June 2, 2019, the Daily Herald reports. The Buffalo Grove Community Arts Center reached out to Molly's family, wishing to be a part of the parade, and Molly's father, Bob, said they are considering having a party following the parade at the arts center.

Buffalo Grove officials also said they support Molly's cause.

"I think she really wants to have something very classy, and I think her goals are to educate the community, to bring awareness to the community," Village President Beverly Sussman told the Daily Herald. "Here is a girl who wants everyone to be together to respect each other. And for a 12-year-old to say we should all respect each other and care about each other, I think that's very important."

Molly, whose hair has been dyed with rainbow colors, began coming out of the closet last summer after her uncle and his husband were married, according to the news report. She also said a lot of her friends identify as LGBTQ and were supportive.

But, she said, plenty of people question how she is able to identify with being gay at such a young age.

She shared her response in a Facebook video:

When you are a 12-year-old straight female, did you not have feelings for boys yet? Did you not have crushes toward boys? That's how I feel toward girls," she said. "It's the same things, just with girls and not boys.So, no, it's not too young because you probably felt things when you were my age."

Photo caption: Molly Pinta/Photo credit: GoFundMe