LGBT Pride Festival Coming To Southern Illinois

CARBONDALE, IL — Southern Illinois is getting an LGBT pride celebration next month. The Southern Illinois Pride Festival planning committee is preparing for a three-day celebration in downtown Carbondale following a successful GoFundMe campaign that raised $700, The Southern Illinoisan reports. The newspaper adds that committee leaders say they've wanted to put together a Southern Illinois LGBT Pride Month event for years, as the closest event is in St. Louis.

22 local and regional organizations are participating in the festival, which kicks off at 6 p.m. Friday, June 1 with a welcome reception at the Varsity Center, followed by a screening of the film "Milk," The Southern Illinoisan says.

LGBT Pride Month is celebrated in June to commemorate a turning point in the gay liberation movement - the 1969 Stonewall riots - and committee members are hoping everyone to fly a pride flag in response to that, the newspaper says.

Patch reported that the turning point was commemorated in Chicago in 1970 during the city's first Pride Parade, which has grown since.

The Southern Illinois Pride Festival schedule also includes:

Saturday, June 2:

• 11 a.m. - Pride Walk from the Gaia House to the Carbondale Pavilion.
• 4 p.m. - "Drag Queen Bingo" at the Varsity Center.
• 8 p.m. - Concert and drag show to benefit the Rainbow Café will be held at Street Bar starting at 8 p.m. A youth party will be held at Gaia House that evening from 6-11 p.m.

Sunday, June 3:

• 10:30 a.m. - A special service will be held at the Carbondale Unitarian Fellowship.
• 1 p.m. - The Ralph Anderson Interfaith Dialogues: Coming Out in Faith

The committee is currently seeking volunteers for the festival.

More information: Southern Illinois Pride Facebook page, thesouthern.com

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