Columb stunt spearheads cy's first gay pri ftival | AP News

STREETS FILL FOR FIRST-EVER GAY PRI FTIVAL COLUMB

COLUMBUS, Ind. (AP) — An Indiana high school stunt is anizg what's believed to be the first gay pri ftival Vice Print Mike Pence's hometown. Er Bailey said she proposed the Columb ftival last year for her senr project at Columb Signature Amy New Tech High School. The April 14 event will feature bands, vendors and a drag queen petn. "I wanted to do somethg that was really big," she said. "I thought 'What is not happeng Columb, what do we not have here?'" The ftival may be the first of s kd the cy, said Jill Tasker, print of Pri Alliance of Columb Indiana and Bailey's mentor for the project. "I thk what Er has done has really l a fire unr a lot of people this town and across the untry," Tasker said. Bailey, 18, intifi as bisexual and said she hop the event will illtrate that the small, nservative muny is open to diverse groups. "So jt kd of showg the natn even though Mike Pence is om here and he's anti-LGBT don't mean that the muny are," Bailey said. Pence, a nservative Christian and Indiana's former ernor, signed a 2015 relig protectns law creatg a legal fense for bs that objected to servg the LGBTQ muny. The law provoked a natnal backlash and led to boytt threats, promptg lawmakers to make chang to the law. Pence appld Bailey's activism and engagement the civic procs, said Alyssa Farah, the vice print's spokwoman. "As a proud Hoosier and Columb native, he's heartened to see young people om his hometown gettg volved the polil procs," Farah said. Mayor Jim Lienhoop also exprsed support for the event, sayg Columb "is proud to be home to persons of all backgrounds, cludg different viewpots, fahs, rac, and sexual orientatn, who brg wh them a rich culture and diversy that benefs all." * columbus indiana gay pride *

– Part of downtown Columb transformed Saturday as part of the first ever gay pri ftival hosted the cy, the hometown of Vice Print Mike Pence. “Even though Mike Pence is openly anti-gay, that don’t mean that all of his hometown are, ” Bailey, who intifi as bisexual, told HuffPost last month.

(AP) — An Indiana high school stunt is anizg what’s believed to be the first gay pri ftival Vice Print Mike Pence’s Bailey said she proposed the Columb ftival last year for her senr project at Columb Signature Amy New Tech High School. And his tenure as ernor of that state ma natnal headl when he signed the ntroversial Relig Freedom Rtoratn Act to law, igng a fiery bate over whether bs should be able to discrimate agast people based on their sexual orientatn or genr inty, for relig Congrs, too, Pence posned himself on the oppose si of several issu important to the LGBTQ muny: opposg expandg the fn of hate crim, advotg for a nstutnal amendment to ban gay marriage, and opposg measur which would protect gay or transgenr people om discrimatn the the past few months, the vice print aga ma natnal headl on this topic -- first, a Twter exchange wh openly gay U.

Figure skater Adam Rippon ahead of the Olympic Gam, then as edian John Oliver trolled him wh a children's book which the Pence fay bunny was imaged a gay relatnship. Now, however, alli Columb are anizg the cy's first ever gay pri ftival to prove that jt the oppose is te.