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A spirit that is not afraid

'This was all love': Lee County's first Pride Parade marches through Opelika

<p>Members of the Auburn-Opelika community gather for Pride on the Plains on Friday, June 1, 2018 in Opelika, Ala.</p>

Members of the Auburn-Opelika community gather for Pride on the Plains on Friday, June 1, 2018 in Opelika, Ala.

Bright colors flooded the streets of downtown Opelika on June 1 during Lee County’s first-ever Pride Parade. The parade is the first of several events that will be hosted by Pride on the Plains over the weekend.

“There was absolutely no hate here, this was all love, that’s all we’ve ever wanted to begin with, with love,” said Pride on the Plains President Chad Peacock.

Several streets were closed downtown for the parade. The parade began at Opelika Town Hall, and after going through parts of downtown Opelika, ended at the courthouse square.

Not only were members of Pride on the Plains present, but other organizations participated in the parade. Several members from the local chapter of Moms Demand Action were present.

“We are for gun-violence prevention, we are second amendment friendly, we are not anti-gun, we’re anti-gun-violence,” said Billy Earle. “The LGBTQ members of our community have a high suicide rate involving guns, so that’s really the connection, and we are anti-gun-violence and support common sense gun rules that would help the LGBTQ community and suicide prevention for everyone.”

Congressional candidate and Miss America 2013 Mallory Hagan came to the parade with several of her supporters and held campaign signs high as they marched.

“I actually grew up in a hair salon and a dance studio so during the day I was at a salon and at night I was in the dance studio and so for my whole life pretty much I’ve been surrounded by members of the LGBTQ community,” Hagan said. “It is incredibly important to me that we not only celebrate pride but we also enact legislation that protects people in the community as well.”

The Eloquent Divas Dance Team from Diva’s House of Dance performed during the parade and after it in front the fountain in downtown Opelika.

“I never thought that Opelika would have something like this here, so this is historic, we have to be a part of history, [the dancers] need to know about what’s going on, and be aware of our community,” said Jamal Trimble, who leads the dance company.

While most of the parade participants walked, several of the drag queens from Derailed Bar and Grill rode in convertibles and a limousine as they waved and smiled at onlookers.

“I think the most exciting thing about today is seeing all these people that we’ve never seen before,” said Pride on the Plains Secretary Julio Yanes. “At our events, we have a lot of frequent attendees, so people that we see at most of our events, but then looking here, we see a lot of faces that we’ve never seen before, and that’s probably the most exciting part.”

Darcy J. Corbitt-Hall, who is the chairman of Darcy Jeda Corbitt Foundation, participated in the parade and spoke afterward in the courthouse square. The Darcy Jeda Corbitt Foundation is an organization that works to protect the transgender community.

“I have to admit I teared up a little bit, I cried when I drove past, there was a group of transgenders, when they saw our sign, they lit up,” said Corbitt-Hall.

Drag queen Ambrosia Starling delivered the final speech.

“We are all here together, we are all in this together, every time, every day, you may not see your brothers and sisters around you, but believe me, they’re next to somebody in their heart, they’ve got somebody in their spirit, because that’s how we get through this thing called life,” Starling said. 

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