LAKE GENEVA — Lake Geneva is the newest Wisconsin community to host its own LGBTQ+ Pride celebration. The weekend event will not have a parade and is focused on family-friendly experiences and entertainment.
Lake Geneva Pride started with a reception on Thursday and will last through Sunday. Events include chalk drawing, a vendor fair, a comedy show, and a community worship celebration.
The inaugural festival was initially motivated by Sam Kelly, the general manager of Lake Geneva hotel The Cove. Kelly is LGBTQ and found out there was never a public Pride celebration in Lake Geneva shortly after he moved to the city last year.
"It was kind of shocking that for this day and age, there was not an opportunity to have a Pride event," Kelly said.
Kelly worked with Downtown Lake Geneva Business Improvement District director Alex Binanti to organize Lake Geneva Pride and to ask businesses whether they wanted to participate.
"When business owners heard about this one, they came out of the woodwork with cool ideas for new products to showcase and for different kinds of entertainment," Binanti said.
While some business owners were on board with Lake Geneva Pride, the city itself did not hang up any Pride-themed banners for the occasion.
Additionally, some locals have posted their opposition to the event on social media, including one who messaged TMJ4 and said they "do not want this Pride crap in Lake Geneva."
Binanti said she has taken notice of the comments left on the Lake Geneva Pride posts.
"Those posts do stay up," Binanti said. 'It's usually the same targeted few individuals that want to make themselves heard, and we're just combating it with kindness."
Kelly said the kindness is encouraging for the people in Lake Geneva who may be afraid to be themselves.
"It excites me to see someone say, 'I am who I am.' I'm gay, bi, verse, or whatever," Kelly said. "When I was younger, to be who you wanted to be was very difficult. To have a boss tell you, 'If you don't change your ways, you're not going to make it,' those kinds of things. I think it's a great opportunity for them to feel welcomed now."
A full list of Lake Geneva Pride events is available at this link.
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