Everyone was welcome in downtown Emporia this weekend as the community gathered to celebrate equality and acceptance as part of Emporia’s third annual Pride Celebration.
Activities ran from Friday through Saturday kicking off with the second annual Emporia Pride Live music festival Friday night. Among the individuals taking the Pride Live stage was Emporia native Dru Rutledge who returned to the community for the first time in roughly a decade.
Rutledge says to be taking part in the Pride festivities in her hometown was, in a word, “amazing.”
A total of 11 performers were featured during Friday’s festival. Following the conclusion of Pride Live, festivities continued Saturday evening with the annual Pride Parade down Commercial Street and wrapped up with the third annual Drag Celebration at the Emporia Granada Theatre.
Sam Blanchett was pulling double duty this weekend performing both on Friday and Saturday evening. Blanchett has been coming to Emporia for the past few years under his drag personality “Billy Blossom.”
Blanchett says given the current national atmosphere surrounding drag culture, and the LGBTQ+ community as a whole, events such as Emporia Pride are extremely important as they can help open a much-needed dialogue.
Lead organizer Orion Turner says he is extremely proud of how much the celebration has grown over the past three years. He says there are newer faces coming to the event each year, which is a very encouraging sign for the entire community.
Emporia’s Pride celebration was organized in cooperation between the Emporia Pride Committee, Emporia High School GSA, Kansas Free For Arts and Emporia Community Action.
Photos by Tagan Trahoon/KVOE News
