“Part of our vision is to ensure that queer identities are seen across our state and not only in queer spaces,” explains Densil Porteous, executive director and CEO of Stonewall Columbus. Its increasingly diverse populace continues to broaden the demographics and color the landscape with all tints of the rainbow. It now has the 15th largest LGBTQ+ population in the US, with a Pride festival that’s risen dramatically in popularity.Īfter originating in 1981, Stonewall Columbus Pride has steadily blossomed in attendance to more than 700,000 (along with some 13,000 marchers in the parade), becoming a beacon of inclusivity, diversity, and acceptance not only for the state, but for the surrounding region.
Not only is Columbus booming in population- at a much faster clip than any other Midwestern city, making it the nation’s 14th largest-but Ohio’s capital has become a mecca of loud-and-proud queerness of late. When it comes to Pride in the Midwest, Chicago tends to monopolize a lot of the rainbow-hued fanfare, but a couple states over, a rapidly growing city is giving the Second City a run for its money.
