In mid-August we received the following note with the story we are sharing below: “Mike Miller here I was Stonewall Columbus’ banner carrier from 2010-2019 I was wondering if I could Share my story instead of A Video because I can be horrible at videos ?”
PRIDE means a lot to me, by Mike Miller
I attended my first Pride event 13 years ago when I was 20 years old; I became a Columbus Pride volunteer the next year and marched in my first Gay Pride Parade the following year. I stayed involved and marched with my church in the Columbus Pride Parade in 2007 and 2008. In 2009, I was in the Columbus Gay Pride Parade and helped with the Columbus Pride Banner from 2010 to 2019. In 2013, I volunteered for Pittsburgh Pride.
In 2017, I decided to attend Prides around my state of Ohio, including Dayton, Columbus, Cincinnati, Mansfield, Youngstown, Toledo, a newly formalized Akron Pride, and Youngstown…I also went as far as Louisville, KY.
In 2018, I participated in the Indianapolis Pride 5K and expanded my reach to Lancaster, Newark, Zanesville, and Springfield-Yellow Springs Prides, as well as the second Akron Pride Festival, where I had a blast! I have participated in Dayton’s PFLAG 5k for three years. And I was glad to attend my first Pride in the CLE in 2019!
I love helping Pride Organizations around Ohio and other states! Pride means a lot to me; I believe this is the only time of the year we can be ourselves. Hopefully, we’ll be able to do so year-round…eventually.
Thank you Mike for sharing your story and your PRIDE–and we too hope to celebrate our PRIDE year-round!!
