The state’s second sanctioned pride parade was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic, but this year its back.
Sioux Falls held its first official pride parade in 2019. It was also the first one in South Dakota.
Quinn Kathner-Tucker is the former president of Sioux Falls Pride. She says the parade was her dream.
“I'm still trying to process it,” she said. “The support was beyond words. It just proves that Sioux Falls is a progressive place that wants to see change.”
She says it meant a lot to the LGBTQ community.
“I saw the street, shoulder to shoulder packed with people, waving rainbow pride flags, smiles on their faces clapping, cheering. And I saw people of all ages, all genders, and all identities,” she said.
But the parade was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic. Kathner-Tuckers says it was a difficult decision, but the right one to make.
She says coming back this year feels amazing.
“My soul feels completed,” she said. “Being able to hug, being able to shake hands, make eye contact, is part of our human connection and our nature. I will never take that for granted again.”
Kathner-Tucker says she hopes the Sioux Falls pride parade will continue annually and help inspire similar events around the state.
Cody Ingle is vice president of Sioux Falls Pride. He says this year’s parade feels especially important.
“We saw a fairly brutal attack on our trans siblings in the community,” he said. “And so it really means a lot for us to be able to show our visibility and to show that our voices are still here.”
He says the event is for everyone, including people outside the LGBTQ community.
“Anybody is welcome at pride that wants to come. That’s the whole idea behind it,” he said. “We want to be an open, accepting, loving community, to anybody that that wants it.”
Ingle says there will be floats, flags, and a lot of rainbows. The parade starts at 10am on June 26th.