Kansas City Pride weekend: Parade kicks off celebration with excitement in Westport
Westport filled with love and color Saturday morning as hundreds gathered for Kansas City’s Pride Parade.
The parade kicked off at Broadway and Westport Road, with participants riding in decorated floats, carrying balloons and wearing colorful clothing. The scene was covered in rainbows.
The parade was Lyn Vaught’s first pride event.
“It’s exciting to see all the people support those of us who don’t feel like we fit in with social norms,” Vaught said, adding that the norm is typically seen as living with the gender assigned at birth and heterosexual relationships, which is not the reality for everyone.
Parade volunteer Andrew Allen said he was glad to see diversity being celebrated in Kansas City.
Several organizations and businesses participated, including the Kansas City Public Library and Human Rights Campaign.
Alyce Johnson and Demario Richardson work for KC Care, a health organization that provides services to underserved groups. Johnson said they were passing out information and advocating for the LGBTQ community. The organization was also handing out condoms, promoting safe sex. Richardson said everyone deserves health care, regardless of their gender identity and that he was happy to be supporting love and freedom.
Other attendees lined Broadway as the parade moved south with participants handing out flags and candy.
Edward Sien and Russell Savage brought their 3-year-old son to the event. As a gay family, the couple said it was important to show their son the community he is part of. The recent transplants from New York City also said they were glad to be supporting LGBTQ pride in Kansas City.
The Show-Me Kansas City Pride Festival runs Saturday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. at Theis Park and family friendly festivities continue Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
