At 3:45 p.m. on a Sunday in February, six people helped rearrange tables at the back corner of the Panera in Brecksville.
By 3:58 p.m., a crowd had gathered, swelling to almost 30.
The group scrambled to add more chairs as people crammed into the makeshift meeting space, shoulder-to-shoulder.
Before the clock struck 4 p.m., the meeting’s official start time,
Brecksville-Broadview Heights (BBH) Pride
director Jennifer Portaro Speer called the group to order.
Speer, a local designer and digital marketing director, led the group to a successful Pride celebration in 2023 – along with its newly acquired status as a registered 501c3 nonprofit.
“We have a lot to get to,” Speer said.
Although the meeting was BBH Pride’s first of the year, most members arrived already impassioned: the group had a Pride celebration to plan – or rather, a Pride celebration to save.
“We now know exactly how to do this,” Speer added. “The template is ready.”
But first, they needed to secure a location.
Declining to host Pride Fest