Thousands gather to support diversity at 2012 West Michigan Pride Festival | Arts & Culture

by Briana Ulrich in NEWS

Families, friends, couples, local organizations and many more gathered at Comstock Riverside Park on Saturday to show their support for the LGBTQ community.

Supporters and members of the gay, straight, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning community gathered in Comstock Riverside Park on Saturday to celebrate equality and diversity at the 24th annual West Michigan Pride Festival. From 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., local entertainment and vendors provided hours of enjoyment for festival-goers.

Michigan’s Center for Inquiry (CFI), a nonprofit organization working to foster a secular society based on science, reason, freedom of inquiry, and humanist values, was at the event as a vendor.

“There’s a lot of people here who may not feel that comfortable in the religion they were brought up in, and since we are really open to diversity we’re able to give them a welcoming place to come and express their opinions, and develop their philosophies,” says media volunteer for the Center for Inquiry Jane Whittington.

Other booths included Barefoot Wine, Vitos Pizza and an Obama 2012 booth that gave individuals the chance to sign up to vote and collect “I’m in” cards to share their voice about the...

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