Roy said the event will provide a safe space for LGBTQ youth in the community. “So I think people will be pretty impressed with the turnout at (Marysville) Pride. “It’s important because Columbus has a pretty big following, but sometimes the rural areas can get the notion that they’re maybe not as accepting, but that’s not necessarily true,” Hoffman said. Hoffman said there is a fair number of LGBTQ youth in the Marysville area, and an event like Pride Fest is important to show acceptance from the community and encourage youth to be themselves. Heather Hoffman, 32, had her photo taken by Parks with her wife and their son in tie-dye shirts with “Love is love” and “You matter” written on the chalkboard. A local Presbyterian pastor sported a shirt saying “This pastor loves you” in another photo. Another included a young person with a lesbian Pride flag, wearing it as a superhero cape.
Parks has already taken pictures of 17 people or groups from the community, a response that Parks said “kind of blew my expectations out of the water." One photo included kids twirling around with streamers attached to poles. The idea is for people to “express their support and love for each other,” he said. Hobbyist photographer Ben Parks, 37, plans on being at the event, where he will set up a chalkboard that attendees can use to express affirming messages and then have their pictures taken with it. I can have all of my friends together to celebrate it.” “I’m happy because I’m going to get a lot of Pride stuff because I don’t have that much and because. Spain, for one, is looking forward to having such an event in the community. “We’re trying to build a community of tolerance here and, moreover, the kids who are LGBT - or any other marginalized group - we want them to know that there are allies here. There are adults here who love you, who welcome you, who want you just as you are.”
“It’s really big because we have a very conservative community here and that’s not always welcoming of our LGBT folks, and it, unfortunately, has bred instances of bullying a lot in the kids in the schools,” Butka said. Butka said the event is important to show a collective stand against bullying and show both Marysville LGBTQ youth and adults that they are not alone.