June is recognized as Pride Month, a time when people of all ages, genders, sexual orientations, and racial identities have a safe place to celebrate LGBTQIA+ Pride. Watershed Voice has compiled a list of resources for local, summer Pride events for Southwest Michigan.
Three Rivers Pride
Andrew George of Three Rivers Pride stops by Keep Your Voice Down to chat about the upcoming and first ever Pride Festival in the City of Three Rivers on Saturday, June 24. Andrew, Alek, and Doug talk about how a Pride flag ban protest and the community support it garnered spurred on the creation of Three Rivers Pride Festival, how it all came together in under six months, and details on what to expect at the event.
Alek and Doug are joined by Portfolio Ink owner and tattoo artist Amber Ward, and Portfolio shop manager Jillian Gardner. The quartet discuss Amber and Jillian’s respective upbringings, the interesting routes each took to the world of tattoos and piercings, how their love of art and artistic expression influences most everything they do, and their involvement in and support of Three Rivers Pride.
Three Rivers Pride is now accepting donations to establish an annual Three Rivers Pride Celebration through its fiscal sponsor Main Street Media Group (Watershed Voice).
With Doug on vacation in Beantown, friend of the show Dan Moyle steps in as Alek’s cohost for this week’s episode with Erin Schultes. Erin is the Democratic candidate for District Two St. Joseph County Commissioner, vice chair of the St. Joseph County, Michigan Democrats, and a member of the Three Rivers Pride Committee. The trio discusses why Erin decided to run for public office, the recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, and the Ban Off Our Bodies protest in Centreville which Erin organized and Dan attended.
Approximately 300 people gathered in front of the St. Joseph County Courthouse Saturday to protest the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which had previously established abortion as a constitutional right.