Those who planned, organized and ultimately pulled off Motor City Pride's debut in Hart Plaza this past weekend deserve our heartfelt thanks and praise.
We must congratulate Equality Michigan, the Motor City Pride Planning Committee, Motor City Pride Chair Dave Wait, the slew of corporate sponsors, the vendors, the exhibitors and the hundreds of volunteers who made last weekend's festival a true success.
Before the festival took place, there was plenty of negative energy surrounding the changes. People hate change. We're creatures of habit. And the move to Hart Plaza offered plenty of change for anyone to dislike: A change of scenery, from a safe suburb to a big city; a bigger space; two days of events instead of one. Even those of us who were excited were also nervous – kind of like the way you feel when you move into a new house and try to make it feel like home.
But our community has to get used to change. We can get stuck in a rut, in our safe places, where we curl up and refuse to grow. Last weekend in Detroit was all about growth. If we want society at large, and the laws that rule us, to be more accepting and protective of our community, well, the fact is we're just going to have to put ourselves out there more. And sometimes, that means being a little uncomfortable.
Last weekend, many were worried about safety, violence, harassment and protesters. But none of those fears came true. Instead, police officers and security guards sauntered lazily around as the crowd – more than 44,000 people over the two days – met, mixed and mingled with each other, exhibitors and vendors. For many festivalgoers, it was their very first pride festival, and they enthusiastically planned to come back.
We sincerely hope that you attended Motor City Pride last weekend. We hope that you put yourself out there and enjoyed the events and the new space that so many people worked so hard to prepare. We hope you made yourself at home.
Because Hart Plaza is now our space too. Because Detroit now has our mark. We are a community, and we're only getting stronger, louder and prouder. It only gets better from here.
