'It shouldn’t be difficult to be yourself': Hundreds gather for Pride Rally at Michigan Capitol
LANSING — Kat and Carrie Monroe of Perry showed up to fight to keep their rights as a married couple.
Dominick Quinney of Lansing showed up because people need community as much as possible when there’s so much turmoil regarding women’s and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning and/or queer rights.
Angie Wooster of Williamston showed up to support her stepdaughter, Alex Wooster, and Alex said she was there because it’s important for young people and especially people of color, like herself, to come out and support the LGBTQ community.
“We’re out here just trying to live our life,” Alex Wooster said. “It shouldn’t be difficult to be yourself.”
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Hundreds of people joined these community members Sunday for the 2022 Michigan Pride Rally at the state Capitol. The crowd could be heard from blocks away and dozens of pride flags flowed in the breeze.
The rally was held on the anniversary of the Marriage Equality Act in 2015, when the Supreme Court made same-sex marriage legal across the country with its ruling in the Obergefell v. Hodges case.
The event was co-hosted by Michigan Pride, a Lansing nonprofit that provides education, outreach, support and events to enhance LGBTQ lives.
Kat Monroe, who identifies as nonbinary transmasculine, said they were disowned from their birth family and had to fight for years to be with the woman they love.
“I’m not about to give that up by any means,” they said.
Angie Wooster said it was important to come to the event for the people who can’t or are still afraid to show up, as the LGBTQ community faces so many obstacles. She and her husband also wanted to be there as supportive parents because not everyone in the LGBTQ community has that, she said.
Alex Wooster said she’s privileged to have two parents who came to the event to support her.
“It’s amazing to just be yourself,” she said.
Many state and local officials were also present at the event, such as Lansing Mayor Andy Schor, Ingham County Treasurer Alan Fox. Michigan State Representative Julie Brixie and Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel spoke to the crowd.
"Say it back to me, no one can make me feel inferior without my consent,” Nessel yelled to the crowd. “Now, one more thing, say this: I do not consent!”
“I do not consent!” Yelled the crowd.
During her speech, Nessel spoke about the importance of voting, stating over 20% of all eligible LGBTQ adults do not register to vote, and that LGBTQ lives and rights are on the ballot come November.
She also spoke about the “horrible rhetoric” that has been used in the Capitol and a supreme court official discussing wanting to overturn Lawrence v. Texas, “which would make our own relationships with our adult consenting partners a 15-year felony in the state.”
“We are not going backwards,” she said. “And we are not going to allow those things to happen, not in our state.”
Contact Bryce Airgood at 517-267-0448 or bairgood@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @bairgood123.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Pride Rally at Michigan State Capitol draws hundreds
