Piedmont Park hosted the annual Atlanta Gay Pride Festival this past weekend. The park was radiant with color and energy, complete with rainbows, sequins, glitter and pasties everywhere. Attendees walked around the park and socialized, along with visiting sponsored tents with free goods such as drink sleeves, condoms and more.
Some even brought their own personal tents to camp out on the main lawn in front of the stage. There were performances from artists such as Daya and Kesha, who ended Saturday night’s festivities.
Participants braved the chilly rain on Sunday for the parade where John Lewis and Stacey Abrams were also in attendance.
Atlanta Pride is for those a part of the LGBTQ+ community and allies to have a safe space to have fun. Claudia Berumen, a straight Latina woman, enjoys being able to come and have fun with her friends without the fear of judgement.
“All my friends who are gay, they’re Latinos. Being Latinos, they do have different obstacles they have to face. Latin American culture comes from a very masochist society,” she said. “I think it’s cool that Atlanta this thing we call Pride here because it’s a safe zone where people can come out and express themselves.”
This weekend was all about love in Atlanta. One person on the lawn awaiting Kesha’s highly anticipated performance stood on top of their drink cooler and waved their rainbow flag in the air, their eyes filled with happy tears.
Another attendee ran up and handing them their own rainbow flag, that was significantly larger so more people could see. They both waved the flag together, much to the cheers of the crowd.
Pride is all about celebrating what makes people different instead of alienating them for it, which brings up the topic of intersectionality. Intersectionality is a term used in contemporary social science that “promotes an understanding of human beings as shaped by the interaction of different social locations,” according to the Institute for Intersectionality Research and Policy.
Essentially, intersectionality recognizes the correlation between identity and inequality that can make some more vulnerable to the bias of others. For example, Georgia State student Briana Mason identifies both with the black community and the LGBTQ+ community.
The second year Computer Science major was at the Pride celebrations this weekend.
“[Pride] is a chance to feel celebrated and accepted for who you are and being yourself,” she said. “It’s also a chance to see so many breaks in LGBTQ+ stereotypes that exist that can put pressure on those individuals.”
Intersectionality is a part of Mason’s everyday life.
“There’s still a lot of struggle to be had by the black LGBTQ+ community, and unfortunately a lot of hate comes from within the black community itself or even within parts of the LGBTQ+ community hating on other parts,” Mason said. “This combined with a lack of representation in the media can cause people to shy away from truly being who they are and it’s something that has to be worked on.”
