Short Film: “I Went To The Smallest Pride In America”

A new 22-minute short film – “I Went to the Smallest Pride in America” – highlights the Pride celebration of LGBTQ people in Morgantown, West Virginia. Social media personality Chris Stanley, 24, traveled to Morgantown (population 30,000) to interview queer residents and record one of the country’s smaller Pride parades. “Imagine a Pride celebration so small, it’s almost a secret,” Stanley voices in the opening of the short film. The short documentary was inspired by Stanley’s desire to shine a spotlight on the shared experiences of queer small-town America. The modest yet meaningful Pride parade, comprised of just 12 cars, is presented with quiet resilience amid the real challenges faced by the LGBTQ community.

“Everyone in West Virginia has a gay neighbor, but not everyone in West Virginia wants to talk about the fact that they have a gay neighbor,” shares Dustin Blankenship, one of the Pride attendees. And local resident Ash Orr explains that Morgantown itself is “very inclusive of the queer and trans community,” adding there are “a lot of ordinances in place, such as the non-discrimination ordinance.” With so much attention on huge Pride Parades in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and more, I feel a sense of uplift and admiration for this community organizing their own event for just their own sense of Pride. Watch the full 22-minute short film below or on YouTube.