The OutCenter of Southwest Michigan has found a new location for its Pride Fest this summer after being denied a permit to hold the event at Dwight P. Mitchell City Center Park in Benton Harbor.
OutCenter Director Mary Jo Schnell tells us the organization has held Pride Fest at the park for about three years now, but when it tried to secure its permit for this June, there was a delay. Eventually, she says OutCenter staff were told the city is no longer permitting “certain events that pose special problems” at the park. That’s after some demonstrators disrupted the Pride Fest last summer.
Schnell says the OutCenter was working on a security plan for this year’s event, but the city apparently wasn’t interested.
“We were going to fence off — only allow for two entrances and exits — which would help us maintain a peaceful event on the property,” Schnell said. “As long as the city was going to make sure that they step up and enforce the permit policy.”
OutCenter Program Director Gerik Nasstrom sought answers from Benton Harbor City Commissioners this week, but Schnell says they’ve gotten nothing. She says it’s a sad situation, given how pleased the OutCenter was to be able to host Pride Fest in the heart of the city it’s always called home.
“So it just meant the world to us. Plus, it was phenomenal to be able to just even show how safe Benton Harbor was for the LGBTQ community. And so it was terribly, extremely troubling, I should say, that they were not going to provide us that space anymore.”
However, the news isn’t all bad. Schnell says Berrien County has come through and allowed Pride Fest 2025 to be held at Shadowland Pavilion in St. Joseph.
When asked if the OutCenter could take legal action against the city of Benton Harbor, she says she doesn’t know, telling us “there’s been enough injury,” and she would rather there be reconciliation than a legal fight.
“Something is really broken here. If we have that number on the city commission saying that there are safe place and things, and yet we can’t get a permit for a pride event.”
