INDIANAPOLIS — Indy Pride Celebration on the Circle is this Saturday.
The first Celebration on the Circle was held in 1990.
A day meant for love and acceptance was met with opposition.
“Hate. Just hate. Saying terrible things about us that weren’t true," Don Hartstern, who attended Pride in the 1990s, said.
Chuck Daube of the Indianapolis Men’s Chorus recalls similar push-back from anti-gay protesters in 1991.
“There was a group of people who were protesting the Pride event and they were screaming. They had signs saying ‘God hates fags,’" Daube said.
As protesters carrying baseball bats stormed the stage, the Indianapolis Men’s Chorus started singing the National Anthem.
At that moment, protesters backed away and dispersed.
“These bigots were shamed away by the fact that the gay and lesbian people around them were more patriotic, more American. Believed in freedom and supporting each other more than they did," said IMC member Joe Duca.
IMC has proudly performed at every Pride festival since.
This weekend marks their return to the Celebration on the Circle for the first time since that historic day.
The chorus will open the celebration at 12:00 p.m. with a live performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner."
“It’s a message of unity. It’s a very divisive climate we’re in right now, so to be able to have something. Whether you’re from Indiana or from anywhere else around the country, a native citizen or someone who’s come from abroad. It’s something that unifies us, even though we have our differences; it’s something we have in common," said IMC member Patrick Kuntz.
