Pride has an ever-changing definition. It fluxes from person to person, with each unique interpretation pulling in pieces of personal emotions, experiences, setbacks, and achievements.
Twin Cities Pride works to celebrate every definition and every community to “foster inclusion, educate and create awareness of issues, and celebrate achievements in equality.”
We took a moment to ask our Drip crew about being proud, what happens when you’re free to be yourself, and more. We uncovered a lot of answers, and they all pointed to one universal fact—we couldn’t be more proud to work alongside everyone here.
Loud and Proud in Minneapolis
This year marks the 46th time a celebration of love, diversity, and the fight for LGBTQIA equality marches through downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. Twin Cities Pride has grown from a small and passionate 50-person protest into a packed two-day jamboree drawing nearly half-a-million spectators and thousands of participants.
If you’ve never been in the crowd of Twin Cities Pride, it might just look like the skies dumped a bucket of glitter, confetti, and rainbows over the cityscape. But to the community it celebrates and the allies who join in, Pride runs much deeper—and well beyond one weekend of each year.
Drip is lucky enough to call downtown Minneapolis home. And we’re even luckier to be tucked in a city with a long history of celebrating diversity and fighting for equality. There are a lot of things to be proud of in this neck of the woods, and Pride has absolutely cemented itself as one of them.
One Vision That Includes Everyone
Pride is more than coming out for a parade, eatin’ funnel cakes, and wandering the festival while taking in the city. It’s about recognizing the history and heritage of the LGBTQ+ community.
Minnesota has a longer history than most states when it comes to LGBT rights:
- Allen Spear, Minneapolis representative in the Minnesota Senate, was the first openly gay man to serve in a state legislature.
- Minneapolitan Sharon Lubinski was the first openly LGBT United States Marshal.
- Minneapolis passed the first transgender-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinance in 1975, making this a city with one of the longest-running civil rights protections for trans people. (Minnesota was the first state to adopt these protections in 1993.)
- Same-sex marriage was legalized across Minnesota in 2013. It was only the 12th state to do so.
It’s about embracing diversity while recognizing the fight for equality is far from over. It’s about celebrating each and every win while fearlessly joining the right side of history. It’s about coming together as one community with one vision. And it’s about feeling love and support for who you are.
At Drip, we embrace diversity. Not only do our ideas flourish and our connections to a broad array of customers thrive, but we become better people. When we work shoulder-to-shoulder with those who have different histories, different ideas, and different ambitions, our minds expand and our hearts open. We realize we’re all a lot more alike than we think, and we’re all better because of it.
In years past, Drip and Leadpages have marched down Hennepin Avenue in the Ashley Rukes GLBT Pride Parade to show our commitment to diversity, equality, and inclusion. This year, however, we’re showing our pride differently.
We’re taking those funds and donating them to LGBTQ youth crisis intervention and suicide prevention organization The Trevor Project. We believe everyone should feel they belong, they are important, and they are being heard—and the Trevor Project is working to make all of that a reality for LGBTQ+ youth every single day.
Working Toward Tech Diversity Together
We aren’t the only ones working for diversity and inclusion, though. Minnesota is dotted with like-minded companies working toward this greater good.
More than 130 local tech businesses and agencies have taken the Minnesota Technology Diversity Pledge. This pledge is one step toward ensuring we all do our part in “changing the workforce to be more inclusive of underrepresented communities like women, people of color, and LGBTQ."
There’s a lot of work left to do, but we’re ready to chip in, roll our sleeves up, and help make equality, diversity, and inclusion the norm. And, damn, we’re proud of that.
