For over 50 years Atlanta has housed one of the largest celebrations for the LGBTQIA+ community. Through numerous avenues Pride has stuck to its mission statement of unity and understanding, striving to ensure a better tomorrow for the LGBTQIA+ community. Xhale City is proud to be a sponsor of the Pride festivities in Atlanta allowing people from all walks of life to express themselves in a comfortable environment. Atlanta is known as one of the foremost LGBTQIA+ supportive cities in the US.
Pride was born from the protest known as the Stonewall Uprising, born from a Police raid on the Stonewall Inn throwing a spotlight on the national level for America’s LGBTQ rights movement. Protests on June 28, 1969, in New York inspired communities across America to mobilize in the belief of equal rights for a large majority of citizens forced to be someone they are not due to societal standards. Looking more towards home, the Lonesome Cowboys raid saw a similar outrage across Atlanta in August of 1969. The Lonesome Cowboys raid was done against a screening of Andy Warhol’s “Lonesome Cowboys”, a satirical western loosely based off the plot of “Romeo and Juliet”, at George Ellis’s Film Forum. These raids were known as “Anti-obscenity raids”, targeting bookstores, news agencies, and theatre seen by public officials as negative to morals of the public.
These protests shook the US to its core, making way for multiple states to start Pride marches, New York, California, Texas, Washington and Georgia are just a few places that have shown the true spirit of unity. The LGBTQIA+ community has made great strides, gaining support in droves since Stonewall in part due to the Gay Liberation Front, a series of gay liberation group under one name. Of course, history is destined to repeat itself if not learned from and the state of Georgia saw a prime example as Pride rallies were met with heavy resistance in June of 2020.
After many years Pride has went from a few hundred to thousands of participants, all excited and unified as either allies or community members. This year will be no exception, people fly in from out of town to attend a magnificent spectacle of food, fun, and vendors. Piedmont Park has been the staple spot for Atlanta pride and that remains the same this year. If you are looking to only attend the parade that is held on the last day, October 9th, you will find your favorite smoke shop, Xhale City, in attendance as a walking group!
Xhale City will not just reside inside the parade, we have a booth set up to purchase products from store and online inventory. The items were hand-picked by our team to ensure this year goes completely stress free, no need to worry about running out of nicotine or Delta 8, we have got you covered. As a proud sponsor we hope everyone coming out enjoys the day with friends and families alike, supporting local activities allows us to spread the love in our own special way. Stop by our booth and pick up our Atlanta Pride shirt from one of our amazing staff members!
Pride is a time to come together, to express unity, leaving bigotry and hate outside of our country and lives. We, as a society, can push forward towards a better and brighter future allowing generations to come the freedom and respect they deserve in life. If we stay closed-minded with our heads buried in times long since passed, we can never have that brighter future for all.
Atlanta Pride start Friday, October 7th of 2022 and doesn’t stop until Sunday, October 9th. Show up and show out with friends and family to gather in unity to stand up for freedom of expression with us at the Atlanta Pride event in Piedmont Park. It is time to celebrate yet another year where love wins!
