Meet Lea Hopkins, the bold, Black lesbian behind Kansas City’s very first Pride parade

Every June, LGBTQ communities and their allies across America get together for Pride celebrations. Depending on where you are, the festivities can include parades, street parties, performances and corporate sponsors.

But behind the rainbow flags and celebrations of joy, these events are also crucial reminders of the decades-long struggle for LGBTQ civil rights — one that continues.

Kansas City's 2023 Pride parade will take place June 10 under the shadow of a Missouri legislative session that saw 48 anti-LGBTQ bills proposed.

It’s reminiscent of the intolerance Lea Hopkins was up against back in 1977, when she spearheaded Kansas City’s first gay Pride parade.

“Everyone who's ever known me knows one thing: I will speak my mind. If it works for you, fine. If it doesn't, that's OK, too,” Hopkins says.