Twin Cites Pride weekend to be more accessible than ever this year
MINNEAPOLIS — The sights and the sounds are so much to take in at Twin Cities Pride but for some, it's too much to take in.
"When someone experiences a lot of sensory dysregulation, sounds get louder, lights get brighter, sounds get stranger and it just gets hard to stay calm and keep your cool," said Jillian Nelson with the Autism Society of Minnesota.
It's a feeling Nelson knows well.
"As an autistic adult, I had not been to Pride in about seven years because it had gotten way too big and way too noisy and there was nowhere to take a break," she said.
Now she's a regular, thanks to the sensory tents she helped set up in the center of Loring Park.
"It started with this small 10 by 10 tent. Now we are up to a 20 by 40 foot tent," Nelson said.
This year there will also be roving volunteers to help calm people or direct them to safety. People in green shirts will be answering questions.
"We added an accessibility guide that tells you which areas are super wheelchair friendly, which paths to be on that are not great from a wheelchair perspective," said Andi Otto, Director of Twin Cities Pride.
There will be an accessible grandstand to watch the parade and the bathrooms will be different too.
"We added adult changing stations, too, because we realized that not everybody is a child so we need to make sure we are taking care of everyone who has an accessibility need in the park," Otto said. "If there is one part of our community that doesn't feel welcome, then I haven't done my job. Because if you can't come to Pride no matter who you are and not feel welcome, then something's not right."
They will also have a sensory-friendly quiet drag show on Sunday morning because they say everyone deserves to have fun. The show starts at 10 a.m. in the park while the parade is on Hennepin.
"Creating Pride is about creating community and for me creating community is about creating accessibility so everyone belongs," Nelson said.
There will also be a Sober Pride area where there will be people to answer questions on recovery resources.
