Ellis Square was decked out Saturday in a celebration of pride, community and belonging.
First City Pride held the 26th annual celebration on the square Oct. 20 and Oct. 21, with performances from Malaysia Babydoll Foxx and Dax from Ru Paul's Drag Race, the Stardust Pixies, King Perk, Sallie just Sallie and more.
The festivities kicked off on Oct. 19 with the MasQUEERrade Ball hosted by House of Azeleas, featuring House of Scalamadre, and continued Friday evening with the festival and pride parade. The celebration will continue with a free drag show from 3-5 p.m. today at the Congress Street Social Club. The event is 21 and over.
But all of the festivities for the weekend have been more than six months in the making.
"We really start hitting hard after our event in June, we have to really start planning you have to get permits, and work with SPD, and traffic flow, and talk to everybody that's in charge of something in the city," said Pride event and Marketing Director Lawrence Appelenzer. "I will say that every department in the city has been so supportive, we are so thankful that we can do this every year and it is amazing that we can do this in the South with no protestors, so Savannah is doing something right."
Mayor Van Johnson spoke during the festivities, welcoming visitors to pride.
"Welcome to the greatest city on Earth, because we love period," Johnson said. "We love without all the fine print, and we are so glad that you are here in Georgia's first city. This is a celebration of love, absolutely unequivocally, without categories and without exception. We may not have always been like that, but we will be like that going into the future."
Vendors lined down the street, and in and around the square. Some of the vendors included The Book Bus, God Glam It, Ikea, Georgia Power, Core and many more.
Credit: Destini Ambus
Credit: Destini Ambus
Orlando Evans, who was at God Glam It, a small business selling fans, said they came because they just want to spread love.
"You know, we have all went through the trauma of coming out and going through the struggle of it, so now we celebrate it," Evans said. "We just like to come out and celebrate and be loud."
Core, community organized relief efforts, provided vaccines for the Mpox, part of the same family of viruses that causes smallpox.
"There's been a breakout in the LGBTQIA community for Mpox, and we want to come to areas where they have that community and be able to offer that vaccine," said Nikki Wright, team supervisor.
Core can be found at First City Pride Center the first and third Wednesday of every month. People can not only get vaccinated at First City Pride Center, but as a resource for LGBTQIA people in the greater Savannah area, they offer resources on safe and affirming medical providers and behavioral health.
"Maybe they're having issues with food insecurity or housing insecurity, job discrimination, domestic violence," said Jessica Maynard, program coordinator. "We also have a variety of support groups, therapy groups, we're soon going to be adding programs where people can come in and have telehealth appointments."
In 2020, with the help of the First City Network, the Savannah LGBT Center, Savannah Pride and Jeffery's Place unified into the First City Pride Center to become one cohesive organization to serve the community. According to its website, it is one of two LGBTQIA centers in Georgia, and is trans-led and volunteer-driven.
Credit: Destini Ambus
Credit: Destini Ambus
"It's definitely nice to go there," said Amari Brown, who volunteers at the center. "I feel like everyone there is kind of similar to me, and it's nice to be able to be around people and help people who might have had a similar experience to you."
Divine Gbuefi, who was an attendee, said that events like this are important because it's easy to grow up and feel like you're an outcast.
''Coming to pride events, it's nice to know that there are people that support you and there are people like you," Gbuefi said. "In isolation, it can be really easy to forget that, and feel like no one is in your corner."
Maynard said she wants to highlight the importance of community when it comes to pride.
"I think it's so important for people to be able to see not only people that are apart of the community coming together, but also you know support from friends and allies," Maynard said.
Destini Ambus is the general assignment reporter for Chatham County municipalities for Savannah Morning News. You can reach her at dambus@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: First City Pride hosts 26th annual Pride Festival; a celebration of community, belonging
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