On Saturday, the second annual State College Pride celebration took place with a drag show, a festival and a parade. Cars, bikers and walkers wearing rainbow clothes, holding balloons and handmade signs, cheered and blew bubbles as they marched in the parade.
One of the participants was Cyllynthe Io, a drag queen representing the gay bar Chumley’s in the parade. She said the goal of the parade is to make the LGBTQ community feel accepted.
“Our message today is that love is international. The world is one place. Everyone is welcome,” Io said.
Io has lived in State College since 2015 and said the town is a “safe, great place” for the LGBTQ community.
“I’m from Utah, which is pretty conservative. And it makes me feel so good to just look around town and see all the different businesses that have pride installations. It’s so amazing,” Io said.
More pride events will be held this month. A full schedule can be found on the Centre LGBTQA Support Network website.