Family Pride Event to Take Place in Downtown Zanesville

ZANESVILLE, Ohio- The community is invited to the Family Pride Event in downtown Zanesville on Saturday.

Last year, Kyle Johnson organized a pride march where over 300 individuals attended. This year, Johnson is organizing the Family Pride Event to spread awareness in rural Ohio for the LGBTQIA plus community.

“I was downtown asking some of the administration if they were celebrating pride in Zanesville. They said no, so I hopped right on it and was like, we need to have this because it means a lot… What pride means to me especially in my home town, celebrating pride is about being welcomed and creating safe spaces for people to feel welcomed,” Minority Business Resource Network, Board of Trustees Johnson said.

The Health Department, Library and the Nelson T Gant Foundation will be setting up tables at the event. In addition, three drag queens will be performing outside Kristen Brown’s studio. A DJ will be in attendance and an artist will be drawing caricatures.

“It’s something that Zanesville hasn’t been doing and it’s something that we should be doing because everybody, like Kyle was saying, needs to feel welcomed and loved. It’s a beautiful thing so why not celebrate it, especially in the month of June,” Kristen Brown said.

Johnson and Brown are inviting the entire community to come out to the Family Pride Event, which will be held outside Kristen Brown’s Art Studio, 605 Market Street on Saturday from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. For more information, questions or if you would like to donate pride favors to hand out, you can visit the Family Pride Event Facebook page.