The city of Decatur hosted its first ever Pride Festival on Saturday, welcoming an estimated one thousand people from around the area to the event, which offered food, vendors and a family-friendly drag show from local performers.
Despite a unanimous vote from the city council, excluding one abstention from a member of Decatur Pride, the festival still brought protesters who came throughout the day, handing out pamphlets and shouting during the event.
Decatur Pride president Nikki Ausland said the Pride group did receive threats online that were investigated by local law enforcement, but she didn’t want to let it detract from the festival.
“So, our motto is do not engage with protesters," Ausland said, "Hopefully, if you don’t engage with them, then hopefully they leave. We wanna keep it low profile and, you know, keep it love.”
Ausland said while they did receive negative comments and threats online, the positive reaction they received from residents offline and in private well outnumbered the detractors.
The event drew a large crowd of an estimated 1,000 people from Decatur, as well as the surrounding areas. One volunteer, Suzanne Torrey, from Van Wert, Ohio came to the festival because her own city doesn’t have a pride event.
"No, we have not had one yet," Torrey said. "I think it's time."
Speaking to the crowd before the drag show, Ausland emphasized a need to remain visible and support each other, calling out attacks on transgender members of the community.
