Pride isn't canceled, but it will be quieter this year.
Cincinnati Pride's board of directors announced Monday that its hallmark event, the Cincinnati Pride Festival and Parade, cannot take place in 2021 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
"We know these events are very important to our community," chair Benjamin Morano wrote in a news release. "However, our main consideration is and always will be the health and safety of all attendees and volunteers. … We felt it was important to decide now before our community's planning and eventual disappointment continue to grow."
The parade had been scheduled for June 26, making Monday's cancellation one of the earliest of the year.
Some local Pride celebrations will still happen in the form of "very small socially-distanced experiences and events," Morano continued. Others — still in the planning stage as of Monday — will take place online.
He recommended that people mourning the loss of the parade or otherwise struggling with their mental health seek out his organization's list of local resources, which includes groups that focus on suicide prevention, sobriety and health care for LGBTQ people.