BARTLESVILLE, Okla. — The Bartlesville Equality organization hosted another pride festival at Unity Square.
In previous years, the festivals faced opposition. This year was no different.
Last year, we told you about concerns over drag shows being performed in the presence of children:
Protesters like Rich Penkoski said they came to stand up for their beliefs.
"These people here are going after children, they're trying to push this ideology on to children," he said.
Penkoski said he protested Bartlesville Pride events before, "I was here two years ago, we were the first ones to really preach against this."
Rika May works with Bartlesville Equality.
She said despite opposition, the events have gotten bigger every year.
"When we first started having Bartlesville Pride, we were located in John Stone Park and the event was just a few hundred people," she said. "It is so big now that obviously, we've had to move venues to accommodate the participants."
In terms of the protesters, Rika said the festival-goers weren't phased.
"We know that they are not representatives of our community, in most cases, they are people from outside of our community that do not represent what our community wants to display," she said.
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