Lenawee Pride Set to Bring Queer Joy to Rural Michigan Community

Organizers emphasize community building after fire impacted key LGBTQ+ resource center

Published: September 2, 2025 | Last Updated: September 2, 2025

For six years, Lenawee Pride has been creating something special in Adrian, about 70 miles southwest of Detroit — a place where LGBTQ+ residents in this smaller community can experience what organizer Kristina Henning calls "queer joy" right in their hometown.

Socorro Sevilla, president of The M Society, a nonprofit serving Lenawee County's LGBTQ+ community, said the event addresses a crucial need in areas where visibility matters most. Too many folks seem to believe that queerness doesn't happen in rural areas, Sevilla said, adding that "we are, and we belong, everywhere."

"Having Pride in a smaller rural community like Adrian often provides the first place queer adults and kids get to witness and experience queer joy," said Henning, who serves on this year's planning committee. The celebration shows the community "there is a place for us here, we can come out of hiding, and we can find safety and community in numbers."

This year's celebration Sept. 6 takes that community connection even further. Rather than confining festivities to one location, Lenawee Pride is spreading throughout downtown Adrian through its "Shop and Strut" program, which partners with more than 20 local businesses offering Pride-themed specials and identifying themselves as safe spaces for LGBTQ+ community members.

"The Shop and Strut has allowed us to identify many businesses in our community who are allies," Henning said. "Everyone benefits! These businesses literally 'get on the map' as allies."

The main celebration runs 3-8 p.m. at Adrian City Market, featuring more than 30 vendors, DJ Wilson spinning tunes, free line dancing lessons, drag story time with Nika Fierce, and food trucks. But both organizers emphasize the real highlight: building and identifying community.

The event also marks a generational shift in leadership. This year's organizing team includes many younger faces, including some who were classmates of Sevilla's own child.

"It feels like this is a time of transition and passing this on to the next generation," Sevilla said. "It feels good to know that Lenawee Pride will be left in good hands when my time is done."

Members of the Lenawee Pride planning committee. Courtesy photo

That continuity feels especially meaningful after The M Society — which offers youth support groups, transgender support meetings, clothing closets and other services — was impacted by a devastating fire that tore through multiple downtown buildings in March. For Henning, an Adrian native, this year's Pride represents resilience.

"This event in some ways is like a Phoenix rising from those ashes," she said. "It truly takes a village and for members of that village to show up as villagers."

The metaphor is fitting for an event that started small but has grown to transform perceptions of the entire community. Sevilla started the first celebration in 2019 as a community picnic, inspired by attending Toledo's first Pride march in 1995. Sevilla said they felt their new home "had waited long enough" for its own celebration.

The growth has been especially meaningful for longtime residents who never expected to see Pride in their hometown. Sevilla recalled seeing people in their 30s, 40s and 50s "in tears because they never thought they would see a Pride in their hometown."

"Many of our young folks aren't able to get to Prides in larger cities, so having Pride here makes it accessible to them," Sevilla said. "I think this has also helped shift the perception of our entire community to one that is far more accepting than people ever realized."

For Henning, seeing Pride celebrated openly in her hometown streets fills her with "gratitude for those who have paved the way, joy for the present and hope for the future."

Lenawee Pride takes place Saturday, Sept. 6, 3-8 p.m. at Adrian City Market, 115 Toledo St. Free and family-friendly.