Excelsior’s got Pride?

The month of June is Pride month celebrating and honoring our LGBTQ+ neighbors, friends, and family. With a theme of unity and empowerment, this annual celebration honors the LGBTQ+ community’s struggles, achievements, and ongoing fight for equality and acceptance.

While Pride Month is a time for celebration, it also serves as a platform for activism and awareness. Advocacy groups and LGBTQ+ organizations across the globe use this opportunity to highlight ongoing challenges faced by the community, including discrimination, violence, and lack of legal protections.

As the month unfolds, cities worldwide will continue to host a myriad of Pride-themed events, each contributing to a global tapestry of acceptance and love. Whether through large-scale celebrations or grassroots initiatives, Pride Month serves as a powerful reminder of the LGBTQ+ community’s resilience and strength in the face of adversity.

You may be wondering, “Where can I celebrate Pride in Excelsior?” “What businesses are LGBTQ+ friendly?” “Am I safe as an LGBTQ+ person in Excelsior?”. The answers, unfortunately, are not all great. 

The community was asked for its LGBTQ+ members to speak with the Citizen about their experiences in town, and no one replied. When June first came and went, there was not a single post on social media from an Excelsior owned business celebrating Pride Month. 

Taking the conversation to a bigger audience, the Kansas City subreddit, the overall perception of Excelsior and its acceptance of LGBTQ+ people was not entirely bleak. Users “PerceptionShift” and “Haunting_Staff_2069” praised The Elms Hotel as “friendly”. User “scdog” seconded this idea and taking it further stating, “The downtown shops, breweries, and wine bars seem to be pretty inclusive, too.”  Multiple users noted in their responses they wouldn’t expect the same inclusion outside of the downtown area though. The conversation ended on a warm note with two users local to Excelsior stating they were allies and “here if anyone needs a friend.”

The important things to take away from this conversation are, there are allies in Excelsior and there is also room for improvement in the community. Until the LGBTQ+ members of the community feel safe discussing their experiences here, there is work to be done.