“To me, as an ally, Pride means loving others for who they are as human beings. Pride is listening, learning and understanding more about each other. It is acceptance and openness. Pride is equality for all.

Pride is the ultimate non-pandemic group hug. “

“I’m a 37 year survivor/thriver of HIV. I was diagnosed with GRID, now known as HIV, in February of 1983.

At age 17, I was fresh out of 12 foster homes and homeless with no support system besides my faith. Contracting HIV was another devastating blow in my young life, which already felt broken. However, I began to develop strong coping skills. First, I learned to embrace my situation of living with, or dying because of HIV. I accepted that my HIV was not going anywhere, and I decided it would not overtake my life.

In 1997, I got involved with AID Atlanta, which gave me the chance to connect with other HIV positive people and advocate for them. I help them find their voices, their drives to survive, and the balance to emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and physically cope with their diagnosis.

Peer support has become one of my greatest passions. Currently, my greatest concern is a lack of communication about resources between my peers and support agencies. To address this, I stay informed on the issues affecting my local, state, and national HIV community.

Since then, I have served as an HIV peer supporter, internationally via internet and phone, and in person locally. As an international HIV peer advocate and a local Ohio State Peer Mentor, I continue tackling the issues my peers face daily.

In January, I founded a grassroots HIV support group in Akron, Ohio, called SSOULE Group. We meet monthly. In between meetings, I connect one-on-one with each attendee to offer support, information, and resources. I also urge my peers to support each other, especially those who are struggling.

I had different plans before I was diagnosed, but this has helped me find my true calling in life. In my 37 years of life with HIV, I've lost over 120 friends and associates. I stopped counting in 1999. The loss was too much.

Instead, I felt it was time to help others, as a way honor the memories of all those I had loved and lost. Their lives, deaths, and memories, have instilled in me the passion to help others live long and well, for us all to live to see the end of the epidemic.

By the end of the day, there’s no greater reward. Nothing can replace the feeling of helping people. Even when life gives you problems, whatever they are, if you can just go back to your passion, it takes all the sting out of a lot of life’s issues.

My passion found me and my job found me. Until the day I leave this world, this is what I’ll do. It gives you a sense of purpose.

We don’t just survive today, we thrive today! Pride is Freedom to Be!

We are our brother's keeper.

For Justin, Pride is all about the celebration of self — and the celebration of community. But when Justin thinks of Pride, he often thinks of LGBTQ+ people who still need support.

“[There’s] work that is left to be done in our community, our society, and in the world,” says Justin. “Until we get to a point where every person can celebrate and feel their own pride in who they are.”

Jacquelyn says she’s thrilled to celebrate Pride at Hardesty Park, a community space she and her neighbors adore. But Jacquelyn has concerns about the festival’s police presence. Last year, she was almost struck by a police vehicle while celebrating Pride in the park. “I’ve never seen as many police before,” she says. “And it seemed like many of the police didn’t want to be working that day.”

As part of the ongoing struggle for justice and equality, Jacquelyn says our relationship with police needs to change — particularly in queer communities and within LGBTQ+ spaces.

“Thinking about a police tower hovering over our park not only brings up privacy concerns,” Jacquelyn says, “it goes against what Pride stands for in the first place.”

For Barbara, Pride means taking pride in herself as a transgender woman, and trying to reflect a positive image to the community at large through her poetry and partication on panel discussions, while at the same time quietly advocating for other transgender women. It also means truly accepting diversity and a willingness to respectfully listen to everyone's viewpoint, even those with whom you may not agree.

“Pride is the long awaited hug that says, “Welcome Home”. Not everyone is lucky enough to find love and acceptance in their own homes. Pride welcomes all individuals with open arms, enthusiasm, encouragement, resources, and (of course) a lifetime supply of glitter. It is the ultimate safe space.

Pride is FAMILY. Pride is LOVE.”

“Pride means not leaving anyone behind,” says Amanda. “[Pride] is to build a multidimensional coalition that celebrates identity on all levels, and seeks to address privileges and oppressions at every turn.”

But for this pair, Pride has more personal meaning too. “Pride is about unabashedly loving oneself,” says Amanda, and working to create communities where LGBTQ+ are free, healthy, and filled with joy.

“[For us], Pride means being comfortable with every aspect of who we are. We accept our faults, celebrate our strengths, and love without wavering. We are humble enough to welcome, encourage, and learn from the differences in our fellow humans. We believe that our greatest strength is the ability to be free. Free in our thinking, free with our compassion, and free to let our strength free others.”

“Pride is a kind of personal evolution. [Pride means] being comfortable in my own skin,” says Anna, “and not being afraid to be open and forthright about all that entails.”

For Beth and Candyce, Pride is all about the freedom to be their most authentic selves. “[Pride] is the comfort of family,” Beth says, “and celebrating who you love.”

“That the one thing that we can all learn and take from this pandemic is how truly precious life is and that we all can take things for granted,” Brian says — which is why the Brobson’s have used their time to take stock of what matters to them.

“It really forces us to slow down and take a real look at what's truly important,” says Brian. The Brobson Home Team’s advice? “Never take time for granted, and always say ‘I love you.’”

“This November, Andrew and I will celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. Brooklynn and Adrionna made our family complete a little over 3 years ago.

For us, Pride is about feeling the love of family and community. It's an opportunity to come together and celebrate the things that make us who we are, inclusive of our differences.

We also believe that Pride is a conduit from which someone who is just figuring themselves out, can see that it is OK to just be you. That there are others who have been down the path before and have lit the way.”

“For two people who were complete opposites when we met, our 26 years together have morphed us into two beautifully blended human beings.” Now, the pair says they always know what the other is thinking. “Oft times,” Terry says, “[we][ finish each others' thoughts and sentences!”

With the exception of following the Covid-19 guidelines, the couple say their lives haven’t changed much since the onset of the pandemic.

“We don’t go out as much,” says Terry. Game nights, movie nights ( @nightlightakron ) have all been put on hold. “Al misses his involvement with the theater and we both miss socializing.”

For Terry and Al, Pride means living an authentic life, and never having to hide or pretend.

“Pride has always meant something special to me,” Andrea says. “Even before realizing and coming out, my parents raised me to see people who are different from me as valuable. Not just in the diversity sense, but in the different perspective. People different from yourself offer a different perspective on the world you live in,” she adds. “They allow us to understand things in a way that we might not have been able to before.”

For Andrea, Pride has always been a significant source of Joy. But since coming out as a trans woman, she says Pride has taken on a whole new meaning. “I'm now one of those people offering that different perspective,” she says. The Joy she once experienced through receiving support, now comes from sharing her own knowledge and resources with the people who need them most.

“Pride is about celebrating where we have come from and where we are going,” the pair says. “Pride is feeling welcome and safe in our neighborhood and our community. Pride is creating a chosen family that supports and loves the 3 of us. Pride is loving who we are.”

“Pride, to us, is about seeing and celebrating the mosaic of individuals that make our fabulous community,” says Erica. “Queerness is embodied in all bodies, it holds a magnificent capacity to heal the past, hold space for the present, and empower the future. Pride is about pushing back against a culture of oppression and unapologetically showing our radical love to the world.”

For Jake, Pride means being visible. “Being an out and proud trans man,” says Jake, “is a way to let other trans and gender expansive people know that there are other people like them, and that it’s possible to live an authentic life, as their true selves.

So no matter what, we have to build up our chosen family. Because sometimes we are the only family some people have. Families come in all kinds, and today we need to come together as one LGBTQ family, especially during this pandemic.”

Erin sees Pride as a way to support others as they come out. “Being visible,” Erin says, “is an act of love and courage that provides hope to those who face similar struggles.” She hopes to never see another young LGBTQ person give up hope and succumb to suicide.

“LGBTQ+ Pride is personal strength and mental fortitude. Many of us have struggled with personal and familial trauma that sometimes transfers to school, work and social environments,” Shamus says. “We become stronger when we realize that our community helps along and props up those around us who need it most.”

“Pride to me means freedom, acceptance, peace and confidence in expressing and being within one’s own skin/with all of [one’s] self,” Iman says. “Including talents, gifts, abilities, strengths, & weakness.”

“Our liberation is tied up in the liberation of all marginalized people. For us, Pride lives in that solidarity—and in the belief that we are powerful not only in our collective rage, but also in our collective joy.

Everything we have, we have because our queer ancestors—namely, Black trans women—loved us and fought for us long before we were born. Pride means we do the same for the queer people who will come after us.”

Tori: “Pride has been a hard struggle, I was raised a certain way, like I shouldn’t be proud of who I am, as a non-binary queer. Now I feel like I want to be in this state of constant celebration of me accepting who I am. I feel like Pride is when your soul sits tidy in your person and you are content with that.”

Hannah: “I’m proud of where we have come from and where we are now. We worked really hard to get to this point, and we’re prideful all year round. Not just during Pride month.”

“Pride means living as your authentic self. Community. Acceptance. Expression.”

“Pride means to never feel less about yourself for being who you are. Not letting the hate in this world, dull your shine. I’ve learned to love me for me and all my rough edges. Without those rough edges, I wouldn’t be who I am today.”

Ashlee: “Tiy and I have been together for almost 3 years now. Our lives have been a little crazy lately during the pandemic, but we’ve been handling things pretty well. I’ve continued to work since my job remained open, but Tiy has been laid off for a while. We recently brought her younger sisters home with us from Pennsylvania and they’ll be spending half the summer with us. Normally we do it later in the summer, but we’d figured this would be a good time since she can be home with them more while she’s not working.”

What Pride means to Ashlee & Tiyanah:

Ashlee: To me, pride is being able to be exactly who you are. It’s feeling accepted and free, and living without judgement.

Tiy: Pride to me is being exactly who I am, to the fullest. Not caring what anyone thinks of me because I am confident enough in me for us all. Pride to me is having the ability to love who I want however I want. Pride is being proud of myself for being myself.

We aren’t doing much differently during pandemic, since we are both thankfully still working – but finding the clarity of what matters, connecting with friends and family, not needing to buy stuff (we’ve been shopping in our own home and digging up some treasures) and spending a lot more time in our garden has been wonderful.

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“When we think of what Pride means we think of 2 things: We think of the fact that the current rights and benefits we enjoy was paid for by brave people who fought for those rights around 50 years ago – and that the way was led by Black Trans women. This is still true today with drag queens often leading the way both culturally and politically.

Secondly, we think of the Pride events that have been happening here in Akron and how they’ve been so welcoming to, and embraced by, the broader community.”

Dorene came out as lesbian in 2019, just after her 57th birthday. She always felt different, but was raised in a religious community that was not accepting or affirming of LGBTQ+ people.

“I shoved everything down deep and became what everyone wanted me to be,” Dorene says. “I joined the Mormon Church to try to be that perfect woman.”

But when Dorene went on a mission trip in her mid-twenties, she fell in love with her mission companion and returned home after attempting suicide.

Even after such a profound experience, Dorene says she still struggled to embrace her own identity. “I still pushed things down and I became a single mom.”

Dorene says her son, Jared, is the best thing that ever happened to her.

When Jared was 4, Dorene was diagnosed Bipolar. Eventually, she earned an MA in Counseling, worked with the National Depression and Bipolar Alliance, and started The Final Farewell Project—a non-profit organization that helps families cover funeral and burial expenses for their loved ones.

Now, Dorene lives in Highland Square, and says it’s the first time she’s felt a real sense of community in her neighborhood. “I feel like I’m home and where I belong.”

Dorene’s journey has been a complicated one, but she says she’s done hiding, and hopes her visibility will inspire other LGBTQ+ people to live their own truths—especially LGBTQ+ people living in religious communities that aren’t always accepting and affirming.

“Too many people in the Church live in silence their entire lives and never live their truth, or they end up committing suicide. I almost did.”

“I have hidden my whole life. When I get the chance to help even one person, I will.”

"Pride to me means loving who I am, as I am. It means loving all of my LGBTQ brothers and sisters exactly for who they are, and where they are at in their journey. I wear a Pride Lokai on my wrist and never take it off. It reminds me of the years of struggle and trauma I lived through to get to where I am and connects me with all of the LGBTQ community."

“The biggest difference during the pandemic from everyday life is that we got the chance to no longer be dating long distance. We called it our “free trial” and now we are lucky enough to be living together.”

“Pride to both of us is a time to celebrate love. It means we get to exist in a world where we do not have to hide how we feel or who we love.”

You might recognize Nick and Steve from their appearance on NBC’s gameshow “The Wall” where they were featured newlyweds from Akron, Ohio in 2018. Nick and Steve adopted their son, Anderson through an agency called Building Blocks Adoption Services, Inc. This precious family is proudly living in Akron.

The Duves own The Candle Studio, which had been closed for walk in business during the pandemic. Trying to manage a business from home while caring for their toddler (with childcare centers closed) has opened the door to a new normal for this family. Nick and Steve said: “The silver lining is that this is the first generation with an opportunity for both parents to stay at home with their kids all the time. We had a family vacation planned for the summer, but due to the pandemic, we canceled that vacation. We used our vacation fund to get Anderson a swing set and create a little backyard oasis for us to enjoy as a family.”

What Pride means to The Duve Family: “Pride means a sense of responsibility, happiness and the ability to accept yourself in the greatest of light or the darkest of moments.”