A nationwide protest against President Donald Trump will merge with Stonewall Columbus Pride on Saturday with its own float in the march.
Organizers for the "No Kings" protest say their message denouncing actions by the Trump administration will resonate with the LGBTQ+ community, but they don't want to disrupt Pride. The protest is happening the same day as Trump's birthday and the military-style parade celebrating the Army's 250th anniversary in Washington D.C.
Since it's happening on the same day as Pride, Indivisible Central Ohio protest organizer Mia Lewis told 星空无限传媒 they didn't want to disrupt or take away attention from the LGBTQ+ event, but instead join in with the celebration.
"It will be very political in that it is celebrating Pride as a way of skewering someone in the White House who wants to be king and who is actually incredibly discriminatory against gay people, trans people, immigrants, so many different communities," Lewis said.
The group will have a float resembling the White House with a banner that goes across each side that says "No Kings in the White House." It will be accompanied by about 200 marchers, many of whom Lewis said are members of the LGBTQ+ community.
"People are upset. They're rightfully upset and they want to do something, they wanna stand up and be counted against what's happening. And so... I do think there's an urge to kind of get out there," Lewis said.
The float will join many others from local organizations and businesses and many national businesses. Before this year's Pride March, Stonewall Columbus said it lost some of its largest corporate sponsors and donors like Walmart, Lowe's and Nissan.
Lewis said Stonewall Columbus organizers stressed during an ambassador training event for Saturday's Pride march, that this year especially is a protest.
"We're fully in line with the spirit of the event," Lewis said.
Other cities around the country plan to hold more traditional rallies to protest Trump.
Ahead of these protests, Trump said he expects to
Lewis said joining Pride felt natural because Pride originally began as a protest with the Stonewall Inn riots in New York City in 1969.
Pride has transformed in cities like Columbus into a celebration of the LGBTQ+ community, but many people maintain that Pride is still a protest.
