The colors of the rainbow lined the streets of Fenton and near Millpond park as the city celebrated its third annual Pride Night. City residents and those from Genesee County and surrounding areas came out to enjoy the event on June 15.
Domonique Clemons, the Genesee County clerk and register of deeds, said it was great to see the support.
“Whether they’re a member of the LGBTQ community or if they’re an ally affirming that love is love and that Genesee County is a welcoming and accepting place for everybody,” Clemons said.
Clemons was attending the event for the first time.
Clemons said: “It’s really cool to be out here in Fenton doing something for our community that some folks might historically have seen some of the discrimination in and if you just look around, there’s hundreds of folks here that are saying that’s not the case here. We’re celebrating equity, we’re celebrating love and it’s just overwhelming positive vibes here.”
Tami Strzelecki, a nurse and owner of Sugs’ Shoppe and Sterk Style, also attended the event for the first time.
“I love all of the people that I’ve been seeing,” said Strzelecki. “It feels kind of like home. It’s been nice to be here and just see all the colorful and happy people walking around.”
Strzelecki, who owns a small business, attended the event as a vendor, selling her handmade items.
“It is my first year as a vendor here at Pride Night,” said Strzelecki. “I actually volunteered to help kind of set everything up here.”
Strzelecki attended some committee meetings and helped to “figure out what kind of booths they were going to have like face painting and craft shows and all that. I helped with the crafts.”
The annual night, which takes place during June, is put on by the Fenton Pride Collective, an nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating prejudice and discrimination of LGBTQ+ people in the Fenton area.
Ky Orvis, Fenton Pride Collective president, said that this year had a great turn out for the event.
“A lot of vendors (came out), especially considering the rain and the weather,” said Orvis. “There were pockets where it wasn’t raining and it was kind of sunny, so it was nice. It was a good mixture.”
Orvis said that the history of Pride Night in Fenton started back when COVID-19 was occurring and Fenton wanted to celebrate pride in their area without going to Flint or Ann Arbor.
“I wanted to do something here, so I messaged on some groups on Facebook,” said Orvis. “And was like, ‘hey, is there any pride night or like pride events in the area?’ and a couple people responded and were like, no, not that I know of. Then we kind of collectively came up with this idea.”
Orvis said that the first Pride Night event was to “crash one of the street experiences and do a walk from one end of the street experience to the other” while “dressed up in full rainbow garb and all that.”
Orvis, who helped start the Fenton Pride Collective, said those who came together to create a pride night in Fenton as “ended up being our board for the Fenton Pride Collective.”
This year felt “magical” said Orvis as they felt that the community “needed some sort of representation for the LGBTQ+ in our area.”