All Together Now You don’t have to be LGBTQ+ to attend Phoenix Pride. BY GERI KOEPPEL P hoenix Pride weekend, Oct. 19 and 20, will include a two-day festival, a Sunday morning parade, countless pre-parties and after-parties, and spillover into downtown bars, restaurants and other businesses. This year’s theme is “Born This Way.” But if you don’t identify as LGBTQ+, you’re still invited. Phoenix Pride staff and volun- teers work hard to promote inclusivity and accessibility for all. The parade and festival are about more than celebrating nontraditional genders or sexualities. Anyone who’s ever felt different or misunderstood for any reason (and who hasn’t?) can bask in acceptance and joy. “Whether you’re a member of the community, whether you’re an ally, whether it’s your 40th year at Phoenix Pride or whether it’s your first time at Phoenix Pride, that strong sense of warmth and welcome and positivity just engulfs you from the moment you enter,” says Jeremy Helfgot, spokesperson for Phoenix Pride. “And I think it stays with you and follows you after you leave.” Phoenix Pride Executive Director Mike Fornelli says everyone can live their best life at the events. “No matter what people are saying in the news, no matter what the Supreme Court is doing, no matter what political candidates have in store,” he said, “be yourself unapolo- getically and know that you can do that in a safe space.” Being LGBTQ+ spans demographics Even though Pride is for everyone, it’s particularly meaningful for LGBTQ+ people because of the daily discrimination and harassment they face for their gender and sexuality. But that’s just one part of their identity: The community intersects with every other facet of society. They live in small towns, big cities, and suburbs and run the gamut of demographics. Helfgot said the events attract “young, old, Black, white, Asian, Jewish, Muslim, Christan — it doesn’t matter. Fully abled or living with challenges. Female, male, nonbinary, fluid. It really, truly is the rainbow.” LGBTQ+ people have the same issues and challenges as everyone else, he adds. They might have trouble finding healthcare or housing. Maybe they’re undocumented or facing aging issues. They could have mental or physical disabilities. Mike Fornelli says, “Pride is all about self-empowerment, self-determination, showing the world that there’s pride to be found in just being unapologetically your- self. Being able to let your freak flag fly without any kind of judgment.” He adds, “It’s people enjoying them- selves being who they are, knowing that nobody’s going to make fun of them, nobody’s going to judge them, nobody’s going to tell them, “No, you can’t do that.’” And Phoenix Pride doesn’t end when the festival is over. To help support LGBTQ+ people and causes all year round, Phoenix Pride has a community foundation with three arms: scholarships, community grants and partnership grants. Community grants consider five pillars of determination: health and education; community development; social justice and inclusion; LGBTQ+ arts, culture and history; and housing and provisions. “The LGBTQ+ community is every- where, so we’re able to help support and fund programs that are everywhere,” Helfgot says. Fornelli added that roughly 50 percent of the community grants benefit allied organi- zations that support not only the LGBTQ+ community but all Arizonans. As one example, it gives to the Brighter Way Institute, which provides pediatric dental care for those who can’t afford it. Allies are integral to Pride Straight, cisgender allies are important in creating safe and inclusive spaces at Phoenix Pride and beyond, not to mention funding the events. “Our festival costs almost $2 million to put on,” Fornelli says. “We would not be able to do that as a nonprofit without sponsor- ship from allies, corporations and busi- nesses that support us.” That said, Fornelli quickly points out that Phoenix Pride does due diligence to ensure a company isn’t engaging in “rainbow washing.” That means they show up at a Pride parade for opportunistic reasons but don’t advocate for the LGBTQ+ community the other 364 days a year. “We check quality index scores for anyone who wants to come in as a sponsor to make sure they’re supporting our community year-round and not as a one-off thing to fill a box,” he says. Allies come in the form of participants, too. Gov. Katie Hobbs is one of the grand marshals this year; she’s a longtime ally, having worked for Phoenix Pride while serving in the state legislature. (The other grand marshals are Chef Silvana Salcido Esparza and performer David Hernandez). And everyone who attends is an ally. Alero Mills, who’s volunteered with Phoenix Pride since 2002, says the parade has grown from about 5,000 to 50,000 over the years, and she’s seen it attract more families. “When you bring kids into (Pride), they know how to love unconditionally and without judgment,” she says. “Parents understand unconditional love is the best love. So I’m always happy when I see families.” Importantly, by including everyone, “Pride helps people become better allies and advocates,” Mills notes. These allies can, in turn, teach others to be more sensitive and accepting. Mills says when people say something they think is funny about LGBTQ+ people and don’t realize it’s not, it’s helpful for allies to speak up. “I don’t think people are malicious, but they just don’t know, and it’s still hurtful,” she says. When asked what Pride means to her personally, Mills says, “It’s a time when those that feel ‘less than’ can actually feel whole.” Accessibility fosters inclusivity Another way Phoenix Pride fosters inclu- sivity is by purposefully considering and creating accessibility for all. That manifests in several ways. Stella Kowalczyk, who started with Pride a decade ago as a volunteer interpreter for the Deaf, is now the nonprofit’s director of engagement. She’s helped the organization become a national leader in the Pride move- ment for its commitment to accessibility. For example, those who need extra accomodations can enter via a dedicated entrance. Mobility shuttles will help people get around the festival and from the parade to the festival. Also, a “senior cooling area” will give people over 50 a break from the sun. A neurodiverse quiet zone provides a respite from noise and activity. A specialized accessibility team will be on standby to offer customized assistance based on indi- vidual needs. And American Sign Language inter- preters will work the information booth, stages, parade grandstand and more. “We didn’t used to have interpreters in our Erotic World, and a community member asked why,” Kowalczyk says. The next year, she made sure interpreters worked the 18-and-up area featuring fetish demonstrations, exotic dancers and more. “That area is fully interpreted both days, all weekend,” she says, adding, “It is a specialized vocabulary.” The organizers ask in advance for song lyrics, scripts and the like from performers and descriptions of parade entries to improve the accuracy of interpretations. “Interpreting is difficult enough,” Fornell says, “and when you’re trying to do it on the fly, it can be taxing on the interpreter.” Also, while pets are not permitted, emotional support animals are allowed on a case-by-case basis. “If that animal is going to help a commu- nity member get out and have a day or two when they can get out and be authentically themselves and around other people that are affirming, and that animal allows them to do that, that is OK,” Kowalczyk says. She added that because most Pride festi- vals nationwide are volunteer-run, they don’t have the bandwidth to consider acces- sibility. Phoenix Pride has four paid employees and hundreds of volunteers, which gives them more resources. And they strive to improve each year. After every event, the staff, volunteers, board members and community members recap what went right and what went wrong. “Phoenix Pride wants to make sure the plus (in LGBTQ+) represents everyone,” Kowalczyk says. “It’s not just everyone in the alphabet soup. The Phoenix Pride Parade Oct. 20 will attract a wide range of demographics, including families. (Photo by Leakedglass Photography/Phoenix Pride) Phoenix Pride is all about people being their authentic selves.(Photo by Leakedglass Photography/Phoenix Pride) >> p 20