The Spectrum Center is hosting the sixth annual Pride March on Saturday, Oct. 17 in downtown Hattiesburg.
The event starts at 11 a.m. at Town Square Park, and the march will start at 1 p.m. at the park. The event was originally scheduled to take place on Oct. 11 but was postponed due to Hurricane Delta.
Keenon Walker, board president for The Spectrum Center, is helping organize the event.
“We were all in agreement that it was important that we still have the march this year,” Walker said.
Walker said this year’s event will focus on transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals who have been the victims of violent crime in 2020.
“I think we’ve lost 30 people this year, so we’re up a few from last year … and that’s a number that could always be higher,” he said. “Some of the cases are not reported, or they’re misgendered.”
Walker said that the subject is something that’s very special to the center. He added that the march will be socially distanced and occur with COVID-19 precautions in place.
“With the march, we’re really focused on safety because our community is also disproportionately affected by COVID,” Walker said. “We’re going to do all the safety things and space people out, and we’re going to provide masks. We have lots of hand sanitizer and volunteers to help us keep people spaced out.”
The Spectrum Center is a resource center for the LGBTQ community and works with other advocacy groups to ensure that all members of that community are safe and accepted wherever they may be.
The center offers support groups and social and educational get-togethers as well as events that focus on health and wellness, including free HIV testing.
