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About Mid-South Pride

About Our Non-Profit Corporation:

Mid-South Pride is a non-profit corporation registered in the State of Tennessee, and operating under the IRS 501(c)(3) code. Mid-South Pride mission is to create festivals, and events, to help foster diversity, provide education, and to show the community that we are one family. Through the events that Mid-South Pride produces, along with our sponsors, we are able to educate our community on the importance of tolerance and inclusion. That a community is made of many persons, and that each is a vital member in that community, and each member of the community deserves equal rights.

Our Organization's History:

Mid-South Pride was founded in the spring of 2004, to pick up the torch of producing the annual GLBT Pride Events in Memphis and the Mid-South. A community meeting was called, and held at the public library on Highland. From that meeting a small group of people came together and formed Mid-South Pride.

From the beginning this group of individuals realized that the GLBT community was not just in Memphis, but actually spread across a region known by many as the Mid-South. As part of the incorporation of the name Mid-South Pride was selected to represent the Pride that all members of the GLBT community throughout the Mid-South feel. Memphis is the hub of this Mid-South area, and the home to Mid-South Pride. We welcome everyone from all areas of the Mid-South: young, old, gay, straight, bi, transgender, lesbian and everyone else to be a part the Mid-South Pride spirit.

In June 2007 our success was celebrated as we were recognized for our achievements on a national level. We were given the first ever “Voice of PRIDE Award” for 2007 from QBliss, (www.qbliss.net). This is a landmark achievement in the southeast region of the US, considering the religious opposition to homosexuality that we face. That opposition is more prevalent here in the southeast more so than anywhere else in the country. We have an uphill fight every time we raise our voices to be heard.

later that year, Mid-South Pride mourned the loss of its former President and co-founder, Gary Wilkerson, the remaining members of the organization agreed to carry on with the vision and mission of Mid-South Pride.

We have set our minds on the duties at hand. It was a group effort in the beginning, and it will continue to be a group effort for years to come.

			Leadership, Vision, & Mission: Mid-South Pride was established to be a lasting opportunity for future leaders of our community to rise to service. In the past, Pride in the Memphis' LGBT community has been celebrated, but the governing body has changed periodically. Mid-South Pride was established so that the central organization would remain the same. The vision and mission were established so that those who wanted to see Pride continue in the Mid South would join Mid-South Pride. We have stood our ground, and the community has rallied behind us.

Our Growing Impact:

Mid-South Pride was formed in 2004 just weeks before Pride was scheduled to take place.  We played host to some 500 participants and spectators. As of 2007, we grew to nearly 2,500. We are firmly established. In 2008 we will have our biggest pride event ever nearly two weeks of events for our community.