The 25th annual Mid-Missouri PrideFest was held at the North Village Arts District, on Saturday, Oct. 4 and Sunday, Oct 5. The event featured drag shows, music and vendor booths. Pride provides a place and time for the mid-Missouri LGBTQ+ community to celebrate their identities without scrutiny.
The Widow Von’Du, who appeared on Season 12 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, mad
e a special appearance at the booth of WOW Presents, a streaming service focused on drag television content.
“I feel that representation is important,” Von’Du said. “As a drag queen who lives in a country that is trying to ban drag, I think it’s very important that I constantly show up and show out and stay on their necks so they know that I am here and I’m queer and I ain’t going nowhere.”
Von’Du, a Kansas City native, found her calling after seeing RuPaul at her first Pride in 2006.
“I got involved in Pride, in my very first Pride in 2006, when I first saw RuPaul on stage,” Von’Du said. “Ever since then, I was like, ‘This is where I need to be. This is who I am.’”
Pride also provides a space for LGBTQ+ people to advocate for themselves democratically. At the festival, individuals such as Katherine Floyd were asking people if they were registered to vote or if they’d be interested in signing petitions.
Floyd is the treasurer for MO for LGBTQ, an organization focused on protecting same-sex marriage and anti-discrimination laws in Missouri. She was requesting signatures for a petition to remove Missouri’s Constitutional same-sex marriage ban, a trigger law that would be enforced if Obergefell v. Hodges were ever overturned.
“These issues are really important for the LGBTQ+ community,” Floyd said. “If our community doesn’t know about these issues, then how are we really going to reach the rest of Missouri?”
Vendors and booths not only focused on knick-knacks, advocacy and entertainment, but also services related to well-being, like free hugs and chiropractors.
Fourth-year Ph.D. clinical psychology major Tionna Hough worked at a booth at Pride for the University of Missouri’s Psychological Services.
“Our clinic provides a lot of accessible and affirming services to the community,” Hough said. “We thought it was important to make sure that we are front-facing in that way.”
The clinic has operated a booth at Pride Fest for over 5 years.
“The student population makes up a lot of our community here,” Hough said. “It’s important that we do things that are not only good for the students but also good for the local community.”
Pride is an opportunity for the community to come together to advocate, provide personal support and celebrate LGBTQ+ culture.
“My life was changed, seeing my first Pride,” Von’Du said. “You never know someone’s life has changed today because they came to their first Pride. They’re seeing their first show. They’re seeing all the bright colors.”