1995

2025

Mission, History, and Impact

Our Mission
and Vision

Indy Pride exists to uplift and unite the LGBTQ+ community of Central Indiana through year-round programming, advocacy, education, and celebration. We create spaces where people can belong, feel affirmed, and connect across differences. Guided by our values—joy, equity, connection, and accountability—we work to support the well-being, visibility, and leadership of LGBTQ+ Hoosiers.

We envision a Central Indiana where every LGBTQ+ person is safe, celebrated, and empowered to live authentically. Indy Pride strives to build a community rooted in inclusion, resilience, and shared purpose—one where diverse voices are elevated, our history is honored, and our future is shaped by collaboration and collective care.

Indy Pride calls queer joy home.

Our Values

  • Accountability

    We honor our commitments to the LGBTQ+ community by holding ourselves responsible for the impact of our work.

  • Belonging

    We believe every queer person deserves a place where they are welcomed, respected, and celebrated—just as they are.

  • Collaboration

    We work better together. By bringing diverse voices and partners to the table, we strengthen our impact and move our shared goals forward.

  • Community

    We are rooted in connection. Our strength comes from the care, trust, and relationships we build across Central Indiana.

  • Inclusivity

    We actively seek out and uplift diverse perspectives, ensuring that everyone has a voice and a stake in the spaces we create.Description goes here

  • Joy

    We treat joy as both a celebration and a force for change—fueling resilience, creativity, and the courage to keep showing up.

  • Safety

    We are committed to creating spaces where LGBTQ+ people can live, gather, and express themselves openly and without fear.

  • Transparency

    We lead with openness and clarity, building trust through honest communication and accountable decision-making.

A Brief History of Indy Pride

For more than three decades, Indy Pride has grown alongside Central Indiana’s LGBTQ+ community—from small, often hidden gatherings to one of the region’s most visible and joyful celebrations of queer life. What began as a way to create safety and connection in a time when being out was risky has become a year-round movement for belonging, advocacy, and shared pride. Over the years, Indy Pride has evolved with the community it serves, responding to moments of crisis, celebration, and change with creativity and care. From early indoor events and quiet organizing to large-scale public festivals, parades, and community programs, Pride has helped make LGBTQ+ people more visible, more connected, and more supported across Central Indiana.

Today, Indy Pride continues that legacy through events, partnerships, and initiatives that center joy, inclusion, and community power. Our first 30 years tell a story of resilience, courage, and collective action—and they point toward a future where every LGBTQ+ Hoosier can feel seen, valued, and at home.

  • 1982

    Indy’s first Pride gatherings were held quietly indoors, beginning with a masked dinner at the Essex House in 1981, when visibility could be dangerous. Through the 1980s, groups like Justice, Inc. created spaces for connection, care, and courage—laying the groundwork for the joyful, public Pride we know today.

  • 1983

    In the early 1980s, the Greater Indianapolis Gay Business Association helped bring LGBTQ+ Hoosiers together through a growing Labor Day Picnic that drew hundreds, then thousands, of attendees. These joyful, community-led gatherings showed the hunger for connection and celebration—and helped spark what would become Indy Pride.

  • 1988

    In 1988, Justice Inc. hosted Indianapolis’s first Pride festival in a public venue at the Indianapolis Sports Center—marking a powerful step toward visibility. The following year, Pride moved to Westlake Park, where attendance grew to nearly 1,000, showing the community’s growing strength and connection.

  • 1990

    In 1990, Justice Inc. brought Pride to Monument Circle for the first time, welcoming more than 3,000 people and marking a new era of public visibility. The celebration returned to the Circle in 1991 before moving to University Park for several years in the early 1990s.

  • 1995

    In 1995, Indy Pride, Inc. was formed to steward the annual Celebration on Monument Circle. As the organization experimented with new locations and formats, including a move to the Canal, early financial challenges followed—testing the resilience that would continue to shape Indy Pride’s future.

  • 1996-1999

    In the late 1990s, community partners including The Word and Justice, Inc. helped sustain Pride as Indy Pride reorganized and rebuilt. Between 1996 and 1999, two Pride events worked together—strengthening the community while Indy Pride stabilized and paid down its early debt.

  • 2002-2009

    In the early 2000s, Indy Pride unified its events into a single mid-June festival at University Park, helping Pride grow quickly in scale and visibility. Attendance jumped from 6,000 in 2002 to 10,000 in 2003, marking a new era of public celebration for Indianapolis’s LGBTQ+ community.

  • 2010-2011

    In 2010, Indy Pride moved the festival to the American Legion Mall to support growing attendance and rebranded it as Circle City IN Pride. With the addition of a parade in 2011 and expanded festival grounds, Pride grew into one of the region’s largest LGBTQ+ celebrations.

  • 2012-2020

    By 2012, Pride had grown into a massive, multi-block celebration with tens of thousands of attendees, multiple stages, and a family-friendly area. The parade became one of the largest in Indianapolis, later becoming known as the Indy Pride Parade.

  • 2021

    Over the past decade, Indy Pride has grown into a vibrant, multi-platform celebration featuring community partners, local organizations, and performers from across the country. From drag and DJs to national artists and advocates, Pride’s main stage has become a powerful space for LGBTQ+ culture, creativity, and connection.

  • 2022

    As Pride has grown more visible, it has helped shift the culture of Indianapolis and Indiana toward greater understanding and acceptance. The Indy Pride Festival and Parade now stand as powerful symbols of progress—reminding us that while there is more work to do, community, visibility, and hope continue to move us forward.