Organizers: First ‘Pride on the Plaza’ Event in Wheeling Exceeds Expectations
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WHEELING -- As Marian Moss walked through the inaugural "Pride on the Plaza" at Wheeling's Market Plaza on Saturday, she not only felt happy. She felt hopeful.
As a member of the LGBTQ community, Moss, who grew up in Wheeling, had never felt the sense of community when she was younger that she felt as she walked among the vendors, performers and visitors. The Emory University student thought that Wheeling would be a great place to come back to, to live and raise a family.
That's not a feeling she's always had.
"It wasn't because I didn't feel like Wheeling had really gripped me," Moss said. "And I felt like I has so much more of a sense of community in Atlanta. But, literally, after this event, I've kind of started to rethink that. It makes me feel even more like Wheeling is my home."
That was part of what event organizers hoped for when they created it -- a fun, family-friendly, welcoming celebration of the LGBTQ community and those who support it. Mikaya Green, one of the event's organizers through the Friendlier City Project, said Saturday's event was more successful than they ever imagined.
"When we first started, we did not think we would ever have an event this large," Green said. "And just seeing everyone have a great time with all the vendors and sponsors, it just really shows me that Wheeling is super-inclusive and a friendly city."
Vendors selling clothes, art and food lined the walkway at Market Plaza. On one end, musicians played as visitors walked along. On another end, people wrote letters to state senators and delegates, asking them to be aware of upcoming legislation. People wrote on a chalkboard, filling in the blank of "Wheeling is the ___ friendly city." They added a few strokes of paint in rainbow colors to the image of the Suspension Bridge.
Dylan Turkal of Weirton wrote on the chalkboard, "Wheeling is the art-friendly city." Turkal really enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere of the event and the opportunity to congregate with others and learn about their common interests.
"Of couse, we all have a common interest in Pride," Turkal said. "But we also have other awesome common interest like art and food and creativity. The Pride community is a very creative community."
Green said Saturday's inaugural Pride on the Plaza was both rewarding and encouraging for the entire Friendlier City Project. It will serve as a motivator, Green said, one that will spur the group to do even more.
"It's going to push us to do even more events and even more community work and get to a point, hopefully, where we're actually making concrete policy changes," Green said.
Moss said the event was a great starting point for that future and showed that the city of Wheeling is one that embraces people of all backgrounds.
"When (Wheeling City Councilwoman Rosemary Ketchum) first cut the big ribbon, I was almost in tears," Moss said. "Because it was the first time in my life in the city I was born and raised in that I really felt like I had a sense of community that understood me and accepted me. And I could be whoever I was."