Stay Informed: Latest News from Across Georgia
- Smaller Pride groups like ColGay Pride face funding cuts and online harassment yet expand events and a first-ever bi-city parade to support vulnerable LGBTQ+ Southerners.
- Regional festivals like Athens Pride, Rome Pride, and Augusta Pride deliver parades, vendor markets, kids zones, health resources, and headline entertainers.
- Inclusive programming from Southern Fried Queer Pride centers queer Black and brown Southerners with markets, a trans cabaret, workshops, and film nights.
- Events like the Stonewall Block Party support the Savannah Pride Center, fundraising for crucial services and affirming safe spaces across the Deep South.
While Atlanta doesn’t host its official Pride festival and parade until October, queer Atlantans don’t have to wait to celebrate. Pride organizations across Georgia are celebrating this month with festivals, parades, parties, and more.
Facing challenges like a lack of funding and harassment, smaller Pride organizations are fighting to provide safe and celebratory spaces for vulnerable LGBTQ+ Southerners – and supporting them is more important than ever.
Columbus Pride
ColGay Pride will host their 12th annual Pride festival at Woodruff Riverfront Park on June 6 and 7. The festivities kick off with the Mr/Miss/Mx Columbus Georgia Pride Pageant on June 6 from 7 to 10 p.m. before a full day of festivities on June 7.
Despite facing more challenges than in years past, this year’s Pride celebration will be bigger than ever before, with a bigger venue, a brand-new entertainment stage, three different drag shows throughout the day, and the first-ever bi-city Pride parade with Phenix City, AL.
With federally funded sponsors pulling their support due to anti-LGBTQ+ pressures from the Trump administration, ColGay Pride has been struggling.
“[The lack of federal funds] has really put us in a bind, especially with a new venue,” Jeremy Hobbs, the founder and executive director of ColGay Pride, told Georgia Voice. “…We’re still struggling right now, trying to get vendors and sponsors together, but we’re getting there. This has already been a rough year for our folks out here, especially our transgender brothers and sisters. They need something. They need this day more than anything else, and I’m going to make sure that we have it for them.”
Along with financial issues, the Trump administration has brought with it an increase in harassment towards the rural Pride organization, Hobbs said.
“This year has also been one of the roughest years as far as harassment, online harassment,” he said. “The day he was elected, it was like droves coming onto our website and attacking us… But we [still] love what we’re doing, and we’re going to continue working hard for this community.”
You can learn more about and donate to ColGay Pride at colgaypride.org.
Athens Pride
Athens Pride and Queer Collective will host PrideFest 2025: From Athens, With Pride in Downtown on June 7 from 3 to 10 p.m. The festivities will include a vendor market, local queer and affirming resources, food trucks, a kids’ zone, entertainment, and a parade at 5 p.m.
“Our community is under attack, which is evident by the 13 anti-LGBTQIA+ bills discussed this legislative session in Georgia, and by the 500+ introduced across the country, with a majority targeting trans individuals,” Becky Loccisano, President of Athens Pride and Queer Collective, told Georgia Voice. “Folx are anxious, and community has never been more important. PrideFest is a celebration of queer joy and a proclamation that we are here, we are resilient, and we’re stronger together. When attending this event, we hope people feel energized, knowing that they are not alone, and that they are surrounded by love and support in Athens.”
Registration to be a vendor, sponsor, and parade participant is now open. Find out more at athenspride.org.
Rome Pride
Rome Pride will take place at Ridge Ferry Park on June 14, but the weekend starts with a kick-off party on June 13 before Saturday’s festivities, which start at 11 a.m. with the March for Rights at City Hall. The festival will include vendors, food trucks, a KidZone and Health Village, and entertainment, including headliner Hormona Lisa from “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”
The weekend closes out with a Pride Sunday Church Service at Rome First UMC Church at 10 a.m.
Rome Pride is the largest rural LGBTQ+ Pride event in Northwest Georgia, attracting 4,000 attendees last year.
Registration is open for sponsors and vendors until June 12 at romegapride.org.
Southern Fried Queer Pride
Want to celebrate Pride without leaving Atlanta? The 2025 Southern Fried Queer Pride Festival will be held on June 23 through 29 in Little Five Points and will include an array of events, specifically tailored toward queer Black and brown Southerners.
This year’s schedule will include the largest artist market in its 11-year history, a trans cabaret, a Black sexual liberation and body positivity workshop, a pop-up thrift shop, the Peach Pit Pageant, a queer film night, and more.
Find the full schedule at southernfriedqueerpride.com.
Augusta Pride
August Pride will meet at the Augusta Common for Pride on June 27 and 28, but the weekend kicks off early with the August Pride President’s Soiree on June 26 at 6:30 p.m. at Sacred Heart Cultural Center.
The theme is “Friends of Dorothy,” tying into the red theme of Beats on Broad, Augusta’s hottest outdoor dance party, on June 27 at 6 p.m. at the Common.|
The Pride festival kicks off with the parade at 10 a.m. on June 28 before a day full of vendors and entertainment, including headliners Akeria C. Davenport from “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and Eric Who from “The Voice.”
Find out more and donate to Augusta Pride at prideaugusta.org.
Savannah Pride
Savannah Pride Center will host a Stonewall Block Party at Starland Yard on June 28 from 2 to 10 p.m. The all-day event will include a vendor market; drag queen story hour; the “So You Think You Can Drag” local drag competition; live DJS; and a Stonewall Vogue Ball, an open-to-all homage to the queer ballroom scene.
“This vibrant celebration honors the historic Stonewall Riots of 1969, a pivotal moment that propelled the LGBTQIA+ rights movement forward,” Michael Bell, the Executive Director of Savannah Pride Center, told Georgia Voice. “In these challenging times, as the world faces heightened uncertainty and adversity, the need for visible support and solidarity with the LGBTQIA+ community is critical. This annual fundraiser plays a vital role in supporting the Savannah Pride Center, helping to provide crucial services and safe, affirming spaces for the LGBTQIA+ community in the Deep South.”
Applications for vendors are open until June 11. More details are available at savannahpridecenter.org.
Smyrna Pride
Smyrna is Fabulous will close out Pride month with their Pride festival on June 28 from noon to 6 p.m. at Smyrna Market Village.
The family-friendly event will include vendors, live entertainment, activities, and more!
Learn more at smyrnapride.org.
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