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This past Oct. 16-26, Uniting Pride has filled the streets of Champaign-Urbana with PRIDE to remind its community that it is one that is inclusive, welcoming and loves authentically.

Pride Fest here in Champaign-Urbana marks its 15th anniversary this year. Hosted by Uniting Pride for the past 15 years, their aim in hosting the heavily anticipated event is to bring together diverse communities to celebrate the thriving LGBTQ Champaign-Urbana community. 

Issaac, a volunteer at Uniting Pride, speaks on his personal meaning of the event which is to “bring people together and just provide a space for people and have a space here together and to celebrate queerness.”

Opening up about the inner workings of the festival, Issaac stresses that careful coordination is the most important part. “It’s a pretty large event. I’m not sure how many people are going to be here, but I imagine it’s in the thousands. So that takes a lot of coordination.”

When asked about what people should know about Uniting Pride, they said that they would want more people to know about the services Uniting Pride provides.

“I would love for people to know about all the services the Uniting Pride offers, the social and support groups, the clothing closet, the events that we have, we actually have this uh food pantry, and education and training.” 

Uniting Pride has provided many services for the LGBTQ+ community since its founding in 2009, providing various services such as giving away gender affirming items, providing free food, hosting support groups, and hosting LGBTQ focused events such as PrideFest, Queer Prom, Love Fest, and many smaller events. Undoubtedly, Uniting Pride has provided a lot of valuable resources to the people of Champaign and Urbana.

CU’s Pride Parade

CU’s annual Pride Fest offers many events and activities for its guests to attend to build upon its sense of community and provide pathways for attendees to connect. 

The parade is one of those very events and also one of the main highlights of Pride Fest. Many organizations take part  in the parade, such as the City of Urbana, and a few companies such as nuERA. 

The parade is not only for celebration though, it is also to bring awareness to critical issues and keep our community well-informed. One float in particular highlighted the genocide currently happening in Palestine. Highlighting the cruelties in which they face a mass starvation  that has left 20,000 children deceased.

Information booths

With Pride Fest attracting such a large and diverse crowd, several organizations host tents such as UC Reproductive justice, Party for Socialism and Liberation, a few Churches and many more. All coming to support the LGBTQ community in their own way; they hope to provide information and a space for others to feel comfortable and be themselves. 

According to Luka Willoughby, an attendee at Pridefest, the most important thing about Pride Fest is that it provides them a great place to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community and its allies. “I think it accurately celebrates as many queer communities under the queer umbrella as possible, uplifts queer artists in these booths.” 

At the booth for the Party for Socialism and Liberation, when asked about why Willoughby and Alex Martel were in attendance at Pride Fest, they said that they were there to inform and advocate against discrimination against transgender people, emphasizing the current political climate in the United States.

Martel says, “We’re out here tabling, we’re here speaking, we’re here to speak towards the conditions that we’re seeing especially with the Trump government. All the terror against trans people and queer people in general.”

Jeanie Ludlow, a booth attendant for UC Reproductive Justice, explains that their organization sets up a booth at Pride Fest to inform people about the importance of reproductive rights and gender-affirming care for transgender people.

Ludlow speaks further on her organization’s narrative, saying: 

Our founding principle is that everyone should have the right to do what they want, to do what they want with their own bodies. We advocate for folks who are pregnant, and for folks who are transgender, and for folks who are non-binary.

Since the overturning of Roe V. Wade in 2022, discussions of reproductive rights and bodily autonomy have been at the forefront of political debates. However, oftentimes most of the discussion is centered around cisgender women and we tend to forget that LGBTQ+ people are just as affected by these issues.

“Mostly what we want to do is make sure that everybody understands that reproductive justice means standing up for LGBTQ folks.”

Transgender people also get pregnant and often do not identify as women, so it is important to also consider their place in the discussion of reproductive rights and give them the accurate resources, and today UC Reproductive Justice provided that for those attending.

A Sense of Unity

At Pride Fest, it is a given that the most important thing about the festival was the way it brings people all over both the Urbana and Champaign community together.

This festival has attracted a lot of groups that seek to provide something for the LGBTQ+ community, whether it be through their services, informing the attendees about issues the community faces, or even just giving a few pieces of candy or stickers. Pride Fest 2025 has brought the community together and has provided priceless resources to the community.