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‘It’s pretty cool to see so many people who are all like me’: Birmingham celebrates Pride

Drag queens perched on top of cars as they rode through Birmingham's Lakeview District.
Noelle Annonen
/
WBHM
Drag queens perched on top of cars as they rode through Birmingham's Lakeview District.

Birmingham’s 47th annual Pridefest wrapped up this weekend, but not before a festive pride parade brought out revelers in colorful dress to the city’s Lakeview District Saturday night.

Parade marchers carried a large Pride flag down 7th Avenue in Birmingham.
Noelle Annonen
/
WBHM
Parade marchers carried a large Pride flag down 7th Avenue.

Drag queens perched on top of cars rode down the street, tossing colorful beads to bystanders. Some participants marched, others rollerbladed, and many clapped their handheld fans and danced their way through the boisterous parade.

“I’m here to support my sister!” Ebony Tindle-Harris said, with a cheer and a laugh. “I love it. I come every year.”

Meanwhile, it was Katie White’s first ever Pride event.

Parade-goer Katie White holds a dog.
Noelle Annonen
/
WBHM
Katie White

“I love it,” White said. “It’s pretty cool to see so many people who are all like me.”

Cassidy Bonner wore a light up costume that was something between a cape and wings.

“(At) Pride, you feel love,” Bonner said. “Some people are here because they have to be here, but it is all love.”

Others, like Sarah Buchanan, spoke about the political element of Pride.

“Pride is, was, and always will be a protest,” Buchanan said. “So coming here and also protesting the horrible things that are happening in this world and then also celebrating our pride and being joyful, that’s why I’m here and that’s why it’s important.”

Noelle Annonen is a general assignment reporter for WBHM, covering news from across the region. She got her start reporting at the Falmouth Enterprise, a newspaper on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.