On Saturday, September 10, Naperville celebrated the LGBTQ+ community with the second annual Naper Pride Fest. The family friendly festival was held at Naper Settlement and featured food, music, LGBQ+ supportive vendors, and kids activities.
Proceeds For Health Center
Proceeds from the event will be used to help create a new health facility in the Naperville area.
“We’re hoping to get a health center for LGBTQ youth to provide counseling, medical treatments, even fostering, and even helping youth that were kicked out of homes to find their place and help them find a proper home and job ,” said Kathryn Kennedy, volunteer coordinator and event leader of Naper Pride Fest.
Naper Pride Goals
The event gave LGBTQ+ members an outlet to celebrate their sexual orientation unapologetically. That’s a goal close to the heart of Andi Dempsey, who co-founded the local group behind the fest, Naper Pride, with her wife about five years ago.
“We started the process to be a 501(c)3 to help people here live their authentic lives, get appropriate healthcare, and come out in the community and actually be a part of Naperville,” said Andi Dempsey, co-founder of Naper Pride. “We love where we live, we are very proud of this town and it makes us happy to see other people coming out and being unafraid and being happy too.”
Inclusivity Key
Dempsey was more than pleased with the turnout of young people and emphasizes the importance of inclusivity.
“It’s wonderful, there’s so many teenagers and tweens here and they need so many people to model after you know, I want them to see how successful life can be so we are here to help them walk into their future and stay in this community and become leaders themselves,” said Dempsey.
Governor Pritzker and State Representative Bill Foster also made an appearance to show their support. Organizers were thrilled with the spirit of the day and the shared atmosphere.
“The suburbs, especially Naperville is a welcoming place and loving, and we just want to see all of you out here and having a great time,” said Kennedy.
Naperville News 17’s Marcel Francis reports.
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