Springfield Pridefest returns in person

Posted on May 23, 2022
Entertainment, food trucks, and booths from businesses and organizations filled the blocks just east of the Capitol Saturday. (Dave Dahl/WJBC)

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – Despite some rain, Springfield’s LGBTQIA+ community – and its allies – turned out for Pridefest, the first one in person since the pandemic.

Entertainment, food trucks, and booths from businesses and organizations filled the blocks just east of the Capitol Saturday.

One of the organizers, Dean Mentjes, described the experience of coming out as bisexual. “I’m 54, so I’ve known for over forty years,” said Mentjes, a board member of the Phoenix Center, the LGBTQIA+ center in Springfield. “I came out publicly. I did it because I found that through volunteering and being my real self, I was able to help other people be more confident in themselves.”

Logan King said growing up in Texas in the sixties and seventies was not an experience of acceptance. “It was a really rural community, and I came up here to help a friend and found a lot of freedom, especially here in Springfield,” King said. “A lot of welcoming people.”

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]

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