Minnesota town honors one of America’s earliest rural Pride movements with new monument

A new historic marker is coming to a Minnesota small town where, more than two decades ago, one of the nation’s first rural LGBTQ+ Pride movements took root.

On May 28, local LGBTQ+ advocates in Pine City will dedicate a historic marker commemorating the launch of East Central Minnesota Pride in 2005, which organizers describe as the country’s first rural Pride organizations. The monument will be placed in Voyager Park, where the group held its first official celebration.

“LGBTQ+ history is so often not documented, and I think there’s a big push for that now,” Aaron Bombard, the group’s president, told The Advocate. “This is going to be huge for us. But it’s also going to be a huge part of just documenting the community’s history.”

Last year, the Pine City Council narrowly voted to approve the project, with a tiebreaker vote of support from Mayor Kent Bombard, husband of Aaron Bombard.

Organizers with East Central Minnesota Pride say the marker is the state’s first LGBTQ+ monument on the state’s registry of historical markers. Seeing an LGBTQ+ history site, especially one of importance to the state’s rural residents, feels especially meaningful to Nathan Johnson, the group’s secretary.

“The rural LGBTQ stories are often overlooked,” Johnson said. “This puts greater Minnesota on the map of LGBTQ history.”

Tracking historic markers can be difficult, according to Allison Ortiz, head of communications for the Minnesota Historical Society. There is no universal definition for what constitutes a historic marker, and there is no single database that documents all monuments and markers across the state, she wrote in an email to The Advocate.

The Historical Marker Database does not include any markers erected by the Minnesota Historical Society that pertain specifically to LGBTQ+ history, though it includes a sign placed at Loring Park in Minneapolis in 2010 to celebrate Pride festivities in the Twin Cities.

As of 2025, the project had a projected price tag of $7,000, according to Pine County News. The project is being funded partly through the Minnesota Historical Society and a state fund that seeks to preserve local history, arts, and culture.

The historic marker will be placed in Pine City's Voyageur Park, pictured here, where East Central Minnesota Pride was launched in 2005.East Central Minnesota Pride

Pine City is a small, rural community located about one hour north of the Minneapolis metropolitan area. The city’s population was roughly 3,100 people in 2020, according to the United States Census.

Despite the town’s small size, Pine City has played a key role in LGBTQ+ organizing in Minnesota. Members of a support group for gay, bisexual, and questioning men from the community launched East Central Minnesota Pride in 2005, bringing an LGBTQ+ Pride movement historically associated with urban areas to the rural Midwest at a time when many LGBTQ+ people in small towns felt they had to leave for larger cities to find acceptance and community.

The group was founded in the same park where the historic marker will soon stand.

“This says to LGBTQ people you don’t have to flee to the big city,” Johnson said.

Over two decades, East Central Minnesota Pride has only grown. In addition to an annual celebration in Voyageur Park, the group hosts a social for LGBTQ+ seniors, collaborates with other LGBTQ+ organizations, and sponsors interfaith services for LGBTQ+ residents during Pride Month.

The group also offers advice to up-and-coming rural LGBTQ+ organizations around the country, Johnson said. “We’re all learning from each other.”

At a time when LGBTQ+ history and visibility are increasingly under political attack nationwide, organizers say preserving that legacy in rural communities feels especially urgent.

When the marker is installed next month, Bombard and Johnson both said they hope it reminds LGBTQ+ residents they are welcome.

“There's a lot of opportunity in country life for the community, and it shows that this is a safe place,” Bombard said.

“People looking at this from New York or Los Angeles would look at this and maybe wonder: Why do they care about this story about rural Pride?” Johnson said. “But this shows that you don't have to leave. You can live, you can build community, you can belong right in Pine City, Minnesota.”

This article was written as part of the Future of Queer Media fellowship program at The Advocate, which is underwritten by a generous gift from Morrison Media Group. The program helps support the next generation of LGBTQ+ journalists.