PAINESVILLE, OH — For the first time, an LGBTQ Pride event is being held in Lake County.
“This is history making,” said Betty Jacobs, founder and executive director of LGBTQ+ Allies Lake County.
The organization, which opened in 2019, is the first and only LGBTQ nonprofit in Lake County.
Jacobs, an openly gay woman who runs the organization with her partner, said her job is more than a means to make money, it’s a passion. In fact, she said she didn’t receive an income the first two years the organization was open, because of a lack of donors.
“We struggle to keep our doors open,” Jacobs said.
The Pride event on Saturday will feature food trucks, live music and entertainment, including drag shows and a kids zone.
Jacobs said feedback from the community has been overwhelmingly positive.
“I’ve had some awesome feedback from businesses, organizations, schools, to the LGBTQ people using us as the middleman of resources to being able to contact those people,” she said.
Jacobs also said Painesville City Council will have a proclamation to kickoff the Pride event, declaring the second Saturday in June ‘Pride Day’ in Painesville.
Though Lake County Pride is certainly a celebration, Jacobs said the event really is about remembering how far our society has come, going back to the Stonewall Riots, which occurred over 50 years ago in New York City and were a turning point in the fight for gay rights.
“We definitely have all of our LGBTQ elders to thank for where we are today,” Jacobs said. “It is because of them LGBTQ people are able to come out and feel more supported and loved.”
