About Us

Metro East Pride Fest started with a small group of women who wanted to celebrate diversity with a party and BBQ outside Club Escapade. Rick Hembree and Harold Schwartz – owners of Club Escapade, along with  Metro East Gays and Straights (MEGS) which was founded by Janet Brannon, Barbara (Jesse) Arms and Janet Wright, were instrumental in planning the very first Pride event. At the first planning meeting, community support was overwhelming and grew a diverse group of individuals.  Metro East’s First Annual PrideFest: Celebrating Diversity and Equality was held on June 21, 2008 on 2nd Street and West Main in Belleville, IL.

Speakers included Mayor Mark Eckert and Lynn Clapp, Human Relations Council. Public officials in attendance included County Board Chairman, Mark Kern; Illinois Representative, Tom Holbrook and Alderman Dorothy Meyer. Other speakers featured Marcelo Tenorio, the first immigrant from Brazil granted amnesty due to sexual orientation and the threat to his safety; Charles May, historian from Springfield, IL; Derek Slay, Vice-President of the Belleville Historical Society; Pastor Dianna Scarlet-Thomas, The Well of Living Waters Ministry and Sherry Haskins. Musical entertainment featuring Summer Osborne, Common Sense Zero, Covering Fire and Kimmy V. was enjoyed by everyone. Several vendors also participated at the festival. Over 600 wristbands were distributed to adults and attendance was estimated at 1,000. The crowd was multi-cultural and included children through senior citizens. The weather was beautiful, with a brief cooling shower early in the day, and there were no incidents throughout the festival.

In 2010, Metro East Pride of Southwestern Illinois, Inc., was incorporated as a 501(c)3 charitable organization with the main purpose of holding an annual Pride Festival. Founding members were:  Sarah Baldwin of Shiloh, IL; Colin Murphy of O’Fallon, IL; Courtney Anderson of Millstadt, IL; Chance Baker of Lebanon, IL; and John Kreisel of Belleville, IL.

In celebration of the fifth annual Pride Fest, Metro East Pride of Southwestern Illinois (MEPSI) held its first-ever Pride Glow March on June 15^th in historic downtown Belleville, Illinois. Starting from the Belleville Public Library on Washington, the MEPSI Board of Directors, as well as leadership/members of Belleville’s PFLAG chapter marched down Main Street, through the square, and ended at Club Escapade. All in all, there were approximately 50 revelers. Many waived full size rainbow flags as we marched, honks of support from passing motorists were received.

Crystal blue skies ushered in the 5th Annual Metro East Pride event on June 16^th. While possibly one of our hottest Pride dates on record at 96 degrees, attendance was estimated at 3,000 patrons throughout the day. Pride goers of all ages browsed some 50 + booths ranging from LGBT organizations and non-profits to religious groups, supportive businesses, as well as food vendors. Dieta Pepsi served as emcee and entertainment included the Gateway Men’s Chorus, The Avery Hill Band, Kristen Goodman, Jen Norman and Summer Osborne. Queen of Metro East Pride was Sierra Mist and King of Metro East Pride was King Jes. At our awards presentation, the 2012 Brenda Grissom and Dixie Ruliffson Community Service Award was presented to Illinois State Representative Greg Harris, and was accepted by Caroline Staerk, Equality Illinois Field Director. The MEPSI Spirit Award was presented to Bobbi Nix. While the festival had to shut down a bit early due to inclement weather – all in all it was deemed a great success.

The 10^th Annual Metro East Pride Fest was held on Saturday, June 10, 2017. The headline entertainer was Kristen Merlin, Season 6 The Voice semi-finalist. Entertainment was also provided by Neon Cadillac, Super Fun Yeah Yeah Rocketship, Right Quick, PowerJR76 and Judy McNutt. Collinsville Gay/Straight Alliance hosted the Chase the Rainbow 5K. Award recipients included Chance Balleza who received the Doug Bernier Spirit of Pride Award and Belleville Mayor Mark Eckert who received the Brenda Grissom & Dixie Ruliffson Community Service Award. A new award, Sonny Pitts MEPSI Spirit Award, was added to commemorate longtime LGBT advocate Sonny Pitts. This award was presented to Sonny’s husband Scott Kreher who was an active member of Metro East Pride. Ravyn Winters performed as Queen of Metro East Pride and Justin Thyme as King of Metro East Pride. Many other local drag queens and kings also performed for the crowd of 8,000. The 10^th Annual Metro East Pride Fest was made possible due to generous contributions of Club Escapade and Re/Max Preferred/The Buss Team.