ST. LOUIS — During the second day of PrideFest, the Grand Pride Parade made its way down Market Street Sunday afternoon.
This was the 43rd year for the parade and over 200 entries made up the almost three hour-long celebrations throughout downtown.
Jordan Braxton, Pride Parade Director, said the excitement and acceptance in the air was a much-needed change, after a tough legislative session for their community.
"It's important to celebrate who you are and for a weekend, step away from all the hate that we hear outside in the community," she said.
Robert Fischer, PROMO Missouri Director of Communications, described it as almost a 'whiplash feeling.'
"It's been a struggle for the past couple of months," he said.
According to Fischer, the legislative session that ended in May, had over 50 anti-LGBTQ plus bills and just weeks later, all of June has been dedicated to celebrating their community.
That's why, according to Braxton, Sunday was focused on love and action.
"Just come together and be in the community and celebrate us. Have a good time, block out all that noise from the outside," she said.
Braxton said love took over as thousands painted downtown St. Louis, every color of the rainbow on Sunday.
"Each year it gets bigger and bigger and bigger. It just shows how our community is growing and how our allies are accepting us," she said.
That feeling of acceptance is what they were focused on after hundreds of anti-LGBTQ plus bills were introduced across the country in this year's legislative session with Missouri leading the nation, according to Braxton.
"The most disheartening part is right at the beginning of Pride month on June 7, Governor Parson signed Senate Bill 39 into Senate Bill 49," she said.
The bills banned youth transgender care and participation in sports.
According to Fischer, this has already caused families to leave the state.
"Some of them are planning to move at the very end of this month in order to protect their children," he said.
All of this, according to Fischer, has sparked more action than ever before from local businesses.
"They've come to us and said, 'Hey, what else can we do? We're certainly donating money to you, but what else can we do in order to make sure that we can help protect people within our own community?'" he said.
That's why behind the smiling faces and waving flags, Fischer said, this year's Pride was also filled with a sense of fight.
"Moving past, just putting up rainbow flags, marching in the parade and taking that next step," he said.
A next step they hope their community will take with them, according to Braxton.
"I hope when they leave the festival and the parade, they go home with a sense of being wonderful and being loved and being seen and come home with some self-confidence that, yes, we have a community here to support each other," she said.
The grand marshals in this year's parade were people a part of the transgender community because organizers wanted them to feel loved and appreciated.
Fischer pointed out that next year is an election year, so it's important for people to get involved and speak up so the people elected to office are pro-equality.