The annual Bowling Green Pride Festival is a family-friendly event where families from all over the region gather to celebrate LGBTQ+ pride. A Talisman photographer attended Pride to find some families, couples and groups of friends who attended Bowling Green Pride on Saturday, Oct. 5.
Aspyn Mace (left), a 13-year-old Glasgow native and Emma Collier, a 15-year-old Bowling Green native celebrate at the Bowling Green Pride Festival. “I’m a furry, so I’m very supportive of the festival since I’m also trans and pan,” Mace said. “It’s just a safe space for everyone to come celebrate who they are and who they want to be.”From left to right, Casper Byrd, Jonnas Carr, Dakota Garrett, Ethan Garrett, and Maggie Lisch are teenagers who are 14 and 15-year-olds from Bowling Green High School who celebrated at the Bowling Green Pride Festival. “This is a place to come celebrate who you are and everyone’s just so nice,” Byrd said. “It’s been a really fun experience. We’ve already made so many friends already.”Charolette Pritchard and her sons Luke and Nathan moved to Bowling Green a few months ago from Springfield and decided to celebrate at the Bowling Green Pride Festival. “We just moved here a few months ago, so I think it’s good that we’re able to build such a good community in this small town, and it’s definitely not what I expected,” Pritchard said. “I didn’t expect to be so welcomed here, honestly, so it’s been nice to just find a place for us.”
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Bri Terrell (left) and Amber Dunaway were one of the many families celebrating at the Bowling Green Pride festival, along with their 9-month-old daughter, Brianna. “I think it’s important that we celebrate who we are and show Bri that it’s good to celebrate who you are and accept who you are even while she’s so young,” Dunaway said.From left to right, Aunaleis Jackson, Baleigh Lawson, Preston Gabbard, Sierra Booten, Justin Mills, Leah Scrifres, Saun Neil, Leighana Stinson, and Olivia Cline all met at the Bowling Green Pride Festival after walking around with their individual friend groups from school. “It’s been so fun and everyone’s just so nice,” Cline said. “I can’t believe we already made so many friends. It’s just nice to come here and be fully accepted for who you are and be celebrated by complete strangers that become your best friends.”Peyton Church, a 5-year-old Bowling Green native, celebrates at the Bowling Green Pride Festival. “I got to get my nails and face painted today and celebrate with my mom and sister, so I think it’s been a fun day,” Church said.
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WKU students Dylan Winter (left) and Patrice Powell celebrate together at the Bowling Green Pride Festival. “Yeah, we’re gay, so that’s a big reason for us to come here, but, like, it also is a huge community,” Winter said. “You can come here and you don’t have to be afraid. You get to just show up and be proud.”Evansville natives Lisa and Tom Daughtery celebrate at the Bowling Green Pride Festival with their 6-year-old son, Jagger. “We came here from Indiana to show our support as a business and let people know that we’re here and we’re proud,” Lisa said. “It’s been just such an open-minded experience, and I’m so glad we got to experience it as a family.”From left to right, Bowling Green natives Abbi Singer, 16, Sofie Stevens, 8, and Kali Goad, 13, celebrate at the Bowling Green Pride Festival. “We came here today because we want to support everyone in the LGBTQ community and spread love,” Singer said.Bridget Reed, a recent graduate from WKU, and her mother, Michelle Miller (left), stand in front of shouting protesters at the Bowling Green Pride Festival. “We just want to make sure that everyone here knows they are absolutely perfect and that we love them no matter what,” Miller said.
