ALTOONA, Pa. — Pride Alliance, Penn State Altoona’s LGBTQ student organization, will hold a Pride Parade at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 11, in downtown Altoona.
Parade organizers, including Amarillys Aponte-Lee, president of the organization, invite students, faculty, staff and the public to participate and learn more about the LGBTQ community.
The parade will begin at the corner of Green Ave. and 9th St. and end at the intersection of 15th St. A ceremony and celebration will follow in Rossman Park along 11th Ave.
Todd Snovel, executive director of the Pennsylvania Governor’s Commission on LGBTQ issues and local musician Walkney are special guests of the event.
Aponte-Lee said they feel that the language used about the LGBTQ community is often negative: “That spreads the message that being gay or bisexual or lesbian is a bad thing, and that’s what we don’t want," they said.
“LGBTQ members are part of your community, they’re already here. They’re active. They’re amazing. They’re doing great things,” said Sue Patterson, director of student diversity and inclusion programming at Penn State Altoona. “All they’re asking is for you to say, ‘You’re one of us,’ instead of looking for how we’re different.”
The parade is the first of its kind in Blair County and coincides with National Coming Out Day.