The first annual Delta Pride festival was held on September 24th.
The one-day event was billed “unapologetically relevant” and began with a recognition of the Ute land, and a small Pride march.
The day was filled with anticipation, excitement, and raw emotions.
"You know, this has been my dream to be able to come out in public and be me," said Xavier Saenz, founder of Delta Pride.
"So if you wanna come and enjoy, absolutely. We welcome you. We'll educate, we'll love you, just like we do everybody else. But this is what it's about. It's about loving your neighbor and doing what's right."
The one day event was billed "unapologetically relevant" and began with a recognition of the Ute Land, a Pride march around numerous vendor tents, and two drag performances.
Melissa Bailey, a Delta Pride board member, says Delta Pride, the organization, has been around for a while, trying to connect people with resources.
"We're now officially a 501c3 nonprofit. We do a lot of work with the youth in the area. Suicide prevention, outreach, counseling, that sort of thing. We don't offer it ourselves, but we try to get them into resources where they can find it and get it," she said.
With its first Pride Festival under its belt, Delta Pride says it hopes to continue the tradition of celebrating the colorful, creative and expressive LGBTQ community in Delta County.
This story from KVNFwas shared via Rocky Mountain Community Radio, a network of public media stations including KDNK in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico.