The First Rural Pride in America.
Pioneering Rural Pride.
What began in Pine City in 2005 helped pioneer a growing rural Pride movement.
A Pioneer of Rural Pride in America
Building visibility, understanding and a welcoming community for all.
🌲 Pioneering Spirit
East Central Minnesota Pride broke new ground with one of America’s earliest rural Pride celebrations, showing that LGBTQ+ visibility and community belong everywhere, including small towns.
🌲 Inclusive Regional Focus
Serving Pine, Isanti, Chisago, Kanabec, and Mille Lacs counties, East Central Minnesota Pride brings visibility, celebration, and connection to the heart of rural Minnesota.
🌲 Community Connection
Working closely with local communities, the organization builds understanding, strengthens connections, and helps create a welcoming environment for all.
🌲 Celebrating Diversity
East Central Minnesota Pride celebrates the identities, stories, and experiences that make up the LGBTQ+ community.
🌲 Strengthening Rural Community
East Central Minnesota Pride strengthens rural LGBTQ+ communities through visibility, support, and opportunities to connect.
🌲 Pride Finds a Home in Pine City
At the crossroads of East Central Minnesota, Pine City provides an accessible gathering place for communities across the region and has been home to Pride since 2005.
“Small-town pride events are the ones that create the change. It’s easy to blend in with 500,000 of your friends at the Twin Cities pride festival and another to be one of 500 in Pine City. That takes a good deal of courage.”
-Don Quaintance, Veteran, Pride organizer since 2005.
East Central Minnesota Pride 