'Pride, not prejudice': Despite protest, Pride parade proceeds

After being delayed an hour by an anti-police demonstration, thousands celebrated all things LGBTQ.

June 25, 2018 at 10:50AM

An hourlong delay in Sunday's Twin Cities Pride parade caused by a protest against police failed to quell the festive, forgiving mood among thousands of participants and spectators, including police officers securing the parade.

"I think it's a fantastic celebration," said Kelsee Williams, 26, who attended the celebration of all things LGBTQ on Hennepin Avenue in downtown Minneapolis with a friend, Rose Kelly, 26, whom she met when they were students at Wayzata High School. "This is a great opportunity for people to get together and be proud."

Carli O'Donnell, 15, and Jade White, students at Robbinsdale Armstrong High School in Plymouth, praised the accepting, merry atmosphere.

"I wanted to be part of something that is welcoming," White said.

Among the 149 floats, vehicles or marching parade units was a Minnesota Department of Transportation snowplow with a large sign proclaiming, "We clear snow for all people."

This year's parade also featured a first: a group from a Twin Cities church with a primarily black congregation.

Kingdom Life Church, a northwest metro congregation led by Pastor David Keaton, sent a contingent to support the Pride event, just as it supports a number of other causes and ministries.

Keaton, in a Sunday telephone interview, said Dennis Spears, a Twin Cities actor and singer who is a member of Kingdom Life, organized the church volunteers. He said the New Testament calls on Christians to love their neighbors and treat them with dignity and respect.

"Church has always been a place where some people have been made to feel excluded," Keaton said. "It's not our place to condone or condemn. That is up to God. Our job is to express the love of Jesus Christ, and to stay morally centered."

The mood stayed high even during the protest, which delayed the parade's start down Hennepin Avenue for about an hour.

Minneapolis and Metro Transit police officers on security duty chatted with parade watchers, accepted bottled water from participants and chuckled with appreciative onlookers as a couple of flamboyantly outfitted Delta Air Lines employees danced up a storm with paradegoers during the delay.

Shooting is focus of protest

Well before Saturday night's fatal police shooting of 31-year-old Thurman Blevins in north Minneapolis, the Justice4Jamar group had declared that it would interrupt the parade with a long list of demands. That shooting became the focal point of Sunday's protest.

Through the years, the Pride parade has often served as a local site for expression of views about broader cultural issues. In 2017, it was briefly stopped by protesters after a controversy about whether uniformed police officers should participate in the parade — they had been hastily excluded, then hastily reinvited. In 2016, it provided a place to mourn for the victims of a gun massacre in a gay nightclub in Florida. In 2013, it was the focal point of celebration over Minnesota's legalization of same-sex marriage.

This year, Police Chief Medaria Arradondo told Minneapolis officers not to march in uniform, but officers not in uniform were allowed to participate and to wear rainbow shirts with police badge designs on the front.

On Sunday, inclusion was the overriding theme, protest or no.

"Pride, not prejudice," declared parade attendee Michael Peterson. "All communities get together. People from all walks of life. That's a good thing."

Sunday's Pride festivities were disrupted by protest but continued on after a brief interruption.
Sunday's Pride festivities were disrupted by protest but continued on after a brief interruption. (Mike Nelson — Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Jason Anderson walked through Loring Park dressed head to toe in rainbow colors on Saturday. ] ALEX KORMANN • alex.kormann@startribune.com The Twin Cities celebrated love and all it's forms with the Minneapolis Pride Festival in Loring Park on Saturday June 23, 2018. Thousands gathered in the park for a variety of festivities including performances by members of the Imperial Court of Minnesota, vendors, games and giveaways. The festival lasted six hours on Saturday and was a precursor to
Jason Anderson walked through Loring Park dressed head to toe in rainbow colors on Saturday. ] ALEX KORMANN • alex.kormann@startribune.com The Twin Cities celebrated love and all it's forms with the Minneapolis Pride Festival in Loring Park on Saturday June 23, 2018. Thousands gathered in the park for a variety of festivities including performances by members of the Imperial Court of Minnesota, vendors, games and giveaways. The festival lasted six hours on Saturday and was a precursor to the annual Pride Parade that will take place on Sunday. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Andrea Jenkins, the city council vice president, held up a "Black Lives Matter" sign to thunderous applause as she rode down Hennepin avenue, Sunday, June 24 2018. ] ALEX KORMANN • alex.kormann@startribune.com Hundreds of thousands of people gathered on Hennepin Avenue for the annual Pride Parade on Sunday. People of all age, shapes and sizes lined the street to celebrate love and all it's forms. Dozens of local businesses and organizations marched in the parade, all showing support for t
Andrea Jenkins, the city council vice president, held up a "Black Lives Matter" sign to thunderous applause as she rode down Hennepin avenue, Sunday, June 24 2018. ] ALEX KORMANN • alex.kormann@startribune.com Hundreds of thousands of people gathered on Hennepin Avenue for the annual Pride Parade on Sunday. People of all age, shapes and sizes lined the street to celebrate love and all it's forms. Dozens of local businesses and organizations marched in the parade, all showing support for the LGTBQ community. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Protestors marched ahead of the pride parade on Sunday to call attention to misconduct by police and the death of black community members. ] ALEX KORMANN • alex.kormann@startribune.com A few dozen protestors delayed the pride parade on Sunday. The protestors called for the removal of all police during the parade. They also chanted the names of numerous black community members who died in police shootings. The protestors marched down the same route of the parade to reach as large of an aud
Protesters marched ahead of the Pride parade in a demonstration focused on police-involved shootings. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
A parade marcher gets the crowd excited and cheering during the pride parade on Sunday. ] ALEX KORMANN • alex.kormann@startribune.com Hundreds of thousands of people gathered on Hennepin Avenue for the annual Pride Parade on Sunday. People of all age, shapes and sizes lined the street to celebrate love and all it's forms. Dozens of local businesses and organizations marched in the parade, all showing support for the LGTBQ community.
A parade marcher gets the crowd excited and cheering during the pride parade on Sunday. ] ALEX KORMANN • alex.kormann@startribune.com Hundreds of thousands of people gathered on Hennepin Avenue for the annual Pride Parade on Sunday. People of all age, shapes and sizes lined the street to celebrate love and all it's forms. Dozens of local businesses and organizations marched in the parade, all showing support for the LGTBQ community. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Anna Bey blows bubbles as they march down Hennepin on Sunday. ] ALEX KORMANN • alex.kormann@startribune.com Hundreds of thousands of people gathered on Hennepin Avenue for the annual Pride Parade on Sunday. People of all age, shapes and sizes lined the street to celebrate love and all it's forms. Dozens of local businesses and organizations marched in the parade, all showing support for the LGTBQ community.
Anna Bey blew bubbles Sunday as she marched down Hennepin Avenue during the Twin Cities Pride parade in Minneapolis. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
People carrying the pride flag at the helm of the parade get excited as they try to get the crowd cheering during the parade on Sunday. ] ALEX KORMANN • alex.kormann@startribune.com Hundreds of thousands of people gathered on Hennepin Avenue for the annual Pride Parade on Sunday. People of all age, shapes and sizes lined the street to celebrate love and all it's forms. Dozens of local businesses and organizations marched in the parade, all showing support for the LGTBQ community.
With a giant flag and some pep in his step, a participant helped get the crowd on Hennepin fired up. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

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Neal St. Anthony

Columnist, reporter

Neal St. Anthony has been a Star Tribune business columnist/reporter since 1984. 

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