Free to Love! 2016 OKC Pride

As the president of OKC Pride Inc, I am honored to welcome you to OKC Pride 2016. This is our 29th year celebrating the LGBTQ community in Oklahoma and our theme this year is “Free to Love”. OKC Pride has become the largest privately-held festival and parade in Oklahoma each year and we are thrilled that you have chosen to join us for Pride Week events (June 20-26), the Equality Concert (June 24), Pride Arts Festival (June 25-26), and OKC Pride Parade (June 26).

OKC Pride has not only grown from a small community parade into an event attracting more than 75,000 attendees but from a single-day parade to a week-long celebration across Oklahoma City. OKC Pride as an organization works throughout the year to fulfill its mission of leadership in health, education, and outreach to the LGBTQ community. Since OKC Pride 2015, we hosted our second Halloween Block Party on 39th Street, Christmas reception for LGBTQ organizational leaders, Transgender Valentine Banquet, Second Chance Prom, and the Second Annual OKC Pride Mental Health Symposium, in addition to supporting numerous community events and organizations.

OKC Pride 2016’s theme “Free to Love” is a recognition of how far we have come as our OKC Pride Parade this year falls on the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision on marriage equality. Celebrating our successes and unique diversity of the LGBTQ community is an important part of what annual Pride celebrations represent but this is only part of its importance. Pride is also an opportunity for those who may come from non-supportive communities, families, churches or other backgrounds to see the size, scope and level of support offered to them by the LGBTQ community and its supporters. It also provides the best venue for our myriad of support organizations to reach those in need of their services.

I want to thank all of our supporters, attendees, volunteers, vendors, sponsors, donors, and Board of Directors for making OKC Pride 2016 a continued success. We look forward to an even brighter future for our organization and the LGBTQ community we represent.

With Pride,

Michael Clark, President

OKC Pride, Inc.

Be sure to check out all the 2016 Pride Celebration Details in the Pride Guide!