'Pride' coming to Sandusky this summer

SANDUSKY — Organizers are proud to announce a new, all-inclusive event endorsing equality while targeting togetherness.The inaugural Sandusky Pride festival takes place June 21-24.In short, all festivities revolve around raising awareness for LGBT — shortened from lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender — issues.Still in a development phase, Pride committee members want to host events underscoring unity and uniqueness. Among some activities planned include a drag queen kickball game, a beauty pageant and a street fair-style party complete with vendors and merchandise retailers. Most events should occur from areas in and around downtown.The event's three main organizers, who are also proprietors in downtown — Cindy Gunderson, who owns Amusement Ales, a new business under construction; Robin Hudnall, who's also known as Robin H.M and owns 546 Tattoo; and Nikki Lloyd, a Sandusky city commissioners who owns Hotel Kilbourne — spoke about their motivation for collaborating on Sandusky Pride:• Gunderson: A Pride event is traditionally coined for the LGBT community, however, it's really broader than that. It's about equality for everybody and creating a community for everybody to feel like they are on the same human level. We want this to be a fun event that is inclusive of everybody while simultaneously giving a community to those who feel they might not have one. We will also help others who might not understand the LGBT community gain a little bit of understanding.• Hudnall: I'm looking forward to opening up Sandusky and inviting everyone to come down and feel like they have a place, a place where they feel like they belong. It will be a celebration of love. I'm hoping it opens up people's minds to different things. We are in small-town Ohio, but I believe Sandusky is capable of way bigger and better things. It's an amazing city, and now I want to see the diversity come through. I want people here to be proud of who they are, and I think Pride can help with that.• Lloyd: It's important for the city of Sandusky to embrace diversity and events. We are trying to create a full weekend of activities so that anyone from the area, or people coming from other areas, can pick and choose what they want to do. We will also work with local businesses to allow them to create their own events and invite people.Sandusky Pride co-organizers, from left, Nikki Lloyd, Robin H.M. Hudnall and Cindy Gunderson pose for a photo in downtown Sandusky on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2018. They're helping plan events for a new, all-inclusive festival, promoting equality and raising awareness for LGBT issues, set for June 21-24 in downtown Sandusky.Reach reporter Andy Ouriel at ouriel@sanduskyregister.com and follow him on Twitter @AndyOuriel.