This Pride season, following a difficult first half of the year for trans residents in the state, Kansans are coming together to send an unequivocal message: LGBTQ people are part of the fabric of our local communities, we are proud, and we are here to stay, no matter what. 

As Topeka Pride enters its third annual – and what is expected to be its largest ever – Pride Palooza celebration, Caleb Soliday (he/him), who serves as the organization’s president, sat down with GLAAD to talk about the significance of this year’s festivities.

“We’re like the United Way, but like the United Gay,” Caleb jokes about his organization’s commitment to collaboration with other local nonprofits and community associations. “We work with different area partners to highlight what they do in the community. We serve as a connector between groups and highlight their expertise and what they do best – for example, Braided Haven,Topeka’s first shelter specifically for houseless LGBTQIA+ youth and which serves youth from across the state.” Topeka Pride, Inc. was first founded as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2014 and Caleb has served as its president for the past four years.

This year’s Pride Palooza will take place on June 20th from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM, in the heart of downtown Topeka at Evergy Plaza, a public outdoor space. The free, family-friendly event is expected to draw thousands of residents and visitors. It’s brought together by Topeka Pride’s volunteer board of nine members, and builds on the momentum of additional events held throughout the year.

“LGBTQIA+ people belong in the Midwest, and we still have a community that is trying to be as present as we can during these times,” Caleb shares. “A lot of us that have the privilege to stay in Kansas safely are rolling up our sleeves and continuing to do the work. We have an obligation to showcase our positive community that stands for all, and make sure we can celebrate and have a good time.”

The festival will take place just two blocks away from the Kansas statehouse, where earlier this year the legislature subverted regular rules and the wider democratic process to force into law SB 244. The legislation bans transgender people from being able to access restrooms that match their gender in government buildings and bans them from being able to access accurate documentation. The bill carries steep criminal penalties for both government bodies and individuals who violate it and encourages members of the public to attempt to enforce the law themselves. It was the first explicitly anti-LGBTQ bill to pass into law in any state in 2026, and one of the most extreme in the nation.

“Bills like this are exactly why everyday Americans are fed up with lawmakers who prioritize targeting innocent people instead of solving actual problems, and then have the gall to try to hide their actions,” said GLAAD’s President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis at the time of the bill’s passage.

“This bill undermines our state’s strong constitutional protections against government overreach and persecution,” added Micah Kubic, ACLU of Kansas Executive Director “It subjects people to unacceptable privacy violations and puts them in harm’s way. Discriminatory laws like this bill violate the fundamental rights guaranteed by the state constitution. They contradict what it means to be a Kansan.”

Kansas’ Democratic governor, Laura Kelly, vetoed the bill; citing “numerous and significant consequences:” “If your grandfather is in a nursing home in a shared room, as a granddaughter, you would not be able to visit him,” Kelly said. “If your sister is living in a dorm at K-State, as a brother, you would not be able to visit her in her room. .. “I believe the Legislature should stay out of the business of telling Kansans how to go to the bathroom and instead stay focused on how to make life more affordable for Kansans.”

The governor has just released a new video for Pride Month recorded specifically for this year’s Pride Palooza, below.

Despite the negative repercussions and lack of testimony from any transgender people or families who would be impacted, legislators overrode the veto to force it into law, allowing nearly no advance notice before its implementation. 

Since SB 244’s passage, trans Kansans have been faced with an impossible decision: drive with inaccurate licenses that reflect an incorrect gender and make themselves vulnerable to harassment and discrimination, or break the law and risk arrest for carrying accurate documentation that matches who they are and does not forcibly out them.

“All of this is mass confusion, and I think that was their goal because it’s all a guessing game that the trans people of Kansas are trying to play here,” said Matthew Neumann, a transgender man and executive director of the LGBTQ Foundation of Kansas. “We don’t know what they’re doing because they’re not talking to us — because they’ve never talked to the trans people of Kansas. They didn’t talk to us about this beforehand. They didn’t talk to us about it during it because they rushed it through, and they haven’t talked to us about it since.”

In addition to the recent extreme anti-trans legislation, Topeka is the birthplace of the notoriously extremist anti-LGBTQ hate group the Westboro Baptist Church, which is still active in the community but fails to deter local residents from embracing their authentic selves.

“There has been an LGBTQIA+ movement here in Topeka for decades,” said Caleb. “A lot of it had to do with Fred Phelps, the former leader of the Westboro Baptist Church. The LGBTQ community saw the disgusting things he was doing and was able to rally allies in the community together to such an extent that our side was able to have a bigger presence than WBC. Whenever we’ve been punched, we respond two times harder.”

Despite the challenges the community faces, support for Pride Palooza is stronger than ever and Topeka Pride has seen zero decrease in funding or sponsorships. 

“In three years, Pride Palooza has become one of the top three events in the Evergy Plaza space,” Caleb points out. “We’re very proud of that distinction having only been around for a short time. Our first year, we expected 100 people to show up because the heat warnings were so extreme. We ended up bringing in 1,200 people. Last year, we surpassed that with approximately 3,000 people in attendance. 

“Sometimes there is a notion that Kansas is a lost cause; but this year, we have raised the same amount of money that we raised in past years,” Caleb shares. “For the few sponsors that had to halt their funding, we had others who stepped up. Even community members who may be on the other side of the political aisle have seen our struggle and asked what they can do to help. They understand that no matter what political party we belong to, we need to help our neighbors and our loved ones.”

“Although Topeka Pride doesn’t do advocacy work at the state level, Equality Kansas and the ACLU have been incredible at fighting for us within the legislature,” he adds. “We do our part by having a huge party just two blocks away. We’re here and not to be feared. We’re a community that comes together in a family friendly environment, and we will continue to be here. We’re here, we’re queer, we’re not going anywhere.”