News Photo by Crystal Nelson Thunder Bay Theatre Core Co. members Tafadzwa Diener, of Urban, Ill., Annika Andersson, of Farmington, and Desi Rodriguez, of Chesapeake, Va., stopped by Culligan Plaza to participate in Pride Picnic on Wednesday.

ALPENA — Members and supporters of Alpena’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community gathered on Wednesday in Culligan Plaza to participate in a picnic, one of several events being held as part of Alpena’s first Pride Week celebration.

The event coincides with Pride Month, celebrated each year in remembrance of the Stonewall uprising that occurred in Manhattan in 1969, when members of the gay community rioted and protested against a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, one of the few establishments that openly welcomed LGBT patrons.

Adrian Alexander, the education coordinator with Thunder Bay Theatre who helped organize the event, said it’s fitting that Alpena’s first Pride Week coincides with the 50th anniversary of the uprising. Alexander wanted to plan a weeklong celebration for Alpena “just because it was time.”

Alexander identifies as a pansexual man, meaning he’s more attracted to a person and not necessarily a specific gender. He knows there are a lot of other people in the LGBT community who want to be “out and proud,” but don’t have a place or platform to do so.

“Being part of the LGBT community has always been special to me,” he said. “It’s been a very big part of my life. Advocacy for myself and members of the community have been a big part of what I have always wanted to do and so I’m excited to be able to do that now.”

The idea for the event came out of a series of Let’s Talk diversity panels hosted by the Thunder Bay Theatre at Art in the Loft.

Previous diversity panels focused on Black History Month, Women’s History Month and mental health awareness, but Alexander took it upon himself to organize a week’s worth of events for Pride Week. He taught a dance class at Bella Rose Yoga and Fitness Studio on Monday, the diversity panel was on Tuesday, and a movie night at Art in the Loft on Wednesday.

A pride painting class will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. today at Art in the Loft, and a Pride Party is planned for 10 p.m. Saturday at the Nucleus Lounge.

Tabitha Camp, who is the theater’s production manager and also helped plan Pride Week, said the response from the community has been positive and she hasn’t heard anything negative.

Being gay, Camp said she has gotten her share of people staring at her, giving her dirty looks, or saying negative things in Alpena. She said she was a little apprehensive heading into Pride Week, but that seeing the turnout and support from people in the community has been wonderful.

“It confirmed and validated my place in the community here and my decision to stay here for a year-long contract,” she said about her decision to sign a contract with the theater for this year.

Betsy Young, who serves on the Thunder Bay Theatre’s board, said one of the theater’s main goals is to support inclusivity and diversity and that Pride Week is focused on bringing the community together.

“All types of people exist in Alpena and we just want to celebrate that,” she said. “I also think it’s important for the LGBT community to know they have advocates that are allies that are here to help support them and so that they feel like they have allies in the community.”

Crystal Nelson can be reached at 989-358-5687 or cnelson@thealpenanews.com.