On a windy Sunday in March, a group of people are huddled in the picnic area of Sim Park. They’re here to celebrate their identity, as well as share a savory dish with one another.
The event is Gays Eating Garlic Bread in the Park.
Jenny Pierce, head of People’s Pride ICT, helped organize the event and has been hosting meetups for queer people around town.
“We have coffee meetups and park days and things like that all the time,” Pierce said. “But we've found when you have something goofy, like garlic bread in the park, two things that maybe don't go together in people's brains, people show up.”
While on a trip, a friend of Pierce saw a flyer advertising a similar event. Amused by the whimsical nature of the idea, Peirce thought it would be fun to bring it to Wichita.
“We stole that idea, put together like a weird flyer with like a skeleton holding garlic bread, and put it all over town,” Pierce said. “And people showed up. So we want to do more eye catching, goofy things to get people to come out.”
This is the second year the event has been held. For Pierce, it’s important to come up with events where queer people can meet up throughout the year, and not just during Pride month.
“After June is over, and after we have one weekend of celebrating, where does everybody go? And so we started doing coffee meetups where I literally was just posting online on Instagram and Facebook, being like, ‘Here's a spot where you can come have coffee and hang out with other queer people.’ And that group has grown so big,” Pierce said.
It’s important to Pierce that People’s Pride ICT events stay true to the group's grassroots mission and offer a safe space, even to those who don’t feel safe at regular pride events.
“We want more of a real and more gritty event than what is typically at a corporate-sponsored pride (event), so there's not going to be like big brands with a rainbow slapped on,” Pierce said. “It will be very much like local artists, local musicians, local DJs and then some of those other parts of the community that aren't really welcome at a traditional pride event.”
If you wanted to attend but missed the event, People’s Pride ICT plans to host another gathering soon, just without the garlic bread.
“We will have another park day (where people) can come and hang out with other queer folks," Pierce said. "A lot of the time people will bring coloring, people will bring crafts, people will bring like balls and sports and things. We just gather and be joyful together out in public. People belong in the sun, and so we go into the park and hang out together.”
As for the food at the latest event, attendees could find a variety of aromatic things to snack on.
“There was a good mix of homemade garlic bread,” Pierce said. “Some people brought garlic naan. There was garlic bread from ... some local places as well. I had some Wichita Brewing Company, brand that's always good. Had some wild garlic in my mouth, and I'm worried that I'm about to blast you away with how much garlic is on my breath.”
