About 2,000 people marched in Upstate Pride’s parade and took part in their festival yesterday. Spartanburg Herald Journal‘s Jenny Arnold has more…
Exuberance, a statue of a woman at the entrance of Barnet Park, stands with her head thrown back in joy. On Saturday, she held two bunches of rainbow-colored balloons as Upstate Pride SC, a local nonprofit promoting equality and respect for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, held its third annual festival there.
Brandi Dice held a rainbow banner as she prepared to join two other marchers holding state and American flags for the walk downtown. Police estimated about 2,000 people attended the event.
“I think everyone should have equal rights,” said Dice, whose partner, Kristi Ward, is president of PFLAG Spartanburg. “We’re all in this world as one, and we might as well get along.”
Protesters, from Westside Baptist Church of Cowpens, Open Door Baptist Church in Easley, and True Light Pentecost Church of Spartanburg, held up signs with slogans like “No special rights for sodomites,” “Salvation and sodomy don’t mix” and “I am not a homophobic, I am a theophobic.”