Strong turnout for second Pride in the Park

A Saturday morning Pride worship service at Associated Church in Owatonna wrapped up with a time of group prayer, silent and spoken.

After a few moments, someone offered a plea for “peace in the park today.”

For the most part, that’s what happened during Owatonna’s second Pride in the Park event, a celebration of the city’s LGBTQIA community hosted by Rainbowtonna. Held from noon to 5 p.m. in Morehouse Park, the event included music, food, a family-friendly drag show, activities and free books for kids, and vendor booths showcasing local nonprofits and businesses.

Clergy members from Owatonna and other communities who participated in the morning’s worship service delivered messages focused on love and affirmation.

“There’s a lot of hate and vitriol in our world and country right now aimed at LGBTQ-plus people, and I think that it’s important as the church in particular, that we lift an alternative voice, and that voice is guided by our gospels and the teachings of Jesus Christ that we are to be about love, and an extravagant, inclusive and embracing love,” said Rev. Shari Prestemon, conference minister with the United Church of Christ Minnesota conference.

Churches have not been very good about accepting people who have been pushed out to the fringes, said Michael Tibbett, who is Rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Owatonna. He has family members who are part of the LGBTQIA community.

“Anything that I can do to show up with my collar on to affirm that we are all children of God is a good thing,” he said.

Walter John Boris, a member of Associated Church and retired United Church of Christ pastor, said he served many churches in the Portland, Ore., area that are “open and affirming” of the LGBTQIA community. He believes people are all part of the same fabric, and “we need to celebrate all the diversity that exists on this planet.”

A resident of the area for the past five years, Boris said he knows some people in the community are not inclusive.

“I think it was particularly important for this congregation, having made the decision to declare themselves to be an open and affirming congregation, for them to make a visible, public witness to that,” he said.

While about 60 people turned out for the first Pride event, the second drew hundreds of colorfully dressed attendees–and a Northfield pastor who promised on social media that he would be preaching there during the day.

Jason Cooley set up in an area just outside of the main activities but about midway through the event moved closer to where the entertainment took place. As his small group made their way down a walking path, Pride supporters blocked them from reaching the pavilion, then responded to Cooley’s anti-LGBTQIA messages with choruses of ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” and other pop tunes.

Across the park, 14-year-old Afton Gomez watched as a friend held an albino bull snake brought to the event by Chris and Kris Vogler of Waseca. Chris works at Life Fitness in Owatonna, and their daughter volunteered at a booth hosted by Job’s Daughters.

Gomez said she came to the park because she’s part of the LGBTQIA community and had never been to a Pride celebration. The protestors, she said, “don’t know what they’re talking about”, but the crowd that showed up made her feel good.

“This is so fun. It’s so nice seeing all these people here who all support this community,” Gomez said. “It’s just so amazing to see the community come together like this.”