When it comes to Pride in the Midwest, Chicago tends to monopolize a lot of the rainbow-hued fanfare, but a couple states over, a rapidly growing city is giving the Second City a run for its money. Not only is Columbus booming in population—at a much faster clip than any other Midwestern city, making it the nation’s 14th largest—but Ohio’s capital has become a mecca of loud-and-proud queerness of late. It now has the 15th largest LGBTQ+ population in the US, with a Pride festival that’s risen dramatically in popularity.

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