INDIANAPOLIS — A celebration of Black LGBTQ+ pride was on full display on Monument Circle Saturday.

The BLQ+ Pride fest brought out hundreds of people as an opportunity to celebrate people of color who identify as LGBTQ+.

The celebration had vendors, queer health support organizations and entertainment.

According to the Human Rights campaign, over 80 percent of black LGBTQ+ youth say they have experienced homophobia or transphobia in the black community.

Organizers hope the event serves as a reminder to queer people of color that they have a community in the city of Indianapolis.

WRTV

“Black pride is important because black LGBTQ people need safe spaces to feel loved and celebrated in the State of Indiana,” President of Indiana Pride of Color Belinda Drake said.

The Human Rights campaign also says that racism is an issue in the LGBTQ+ community.

Nearly 75 percent of black queer youth say they have experienced racism in the queer community.

Indiana Pride of Color is working to improve the quality of life for Indiana LGBTQ+ BIPOC communities.

Learn more about the Indiana Pride of Color organization, here.

WATCH | Organizations work to ‘break the stigma’ amid Mental Health Awareness Month

Breaking the stigma of mental health during Mental Health Awareness Month

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — After a five-year hiatus, the BLQ+ Pride Summer Fest event was held on Monument Circle on Saturday.

The event featured several shopping, entertainment, and eating opportunities.

“They are doing testing, we have food vendors, we have alcohol for the adults, we have folks who are selling merchandise,” said Belinda Drake, president of Indiana Pride of Color. “We have the ice cone shop for the kiddos, too.”

The day is created to honor and celebrate Black, Queer joy in the city and state overall.

One of the vendors who came out to sell items and celebrate alongside the community is Nakeya Harris, the owner of Meraki Mobile Boutique. Her shop carries women’s clothing items, with a specific focus on statement items with bright colors. She also carries jewelry and additional staples.

“I enjoy people expressing themselves and being free, so I wanted to be a part of that,” Harris said.

Local LifeJourney Church was also in attendance at the event. They aim to extend a safe space for worship to anyone interested.

“Today we are trying to reach out to communities of color and just say we have a welcoming space where people can come and be themselves

Though it is the first event of its kind since 2019, the Summer Fest is set to return to Monument Circle next year, and for many years to come.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – On Wednesday, white smoke finally hovered over Big Ten headquarters in Rosemont, Ill., as the conference revealed its future plans for the Big Ten Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments.

If you’re a Big Ten-mad basketball fan who resides in Indiana, you’re happy. Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis will host both the men’s and women’s tournaments twice each between 2025 and 2028. The Fieldhouse will host both tournaments in 2025.

In theory, you’d think having the Big Ten Tournament right in the heart of Hoosier country would create a home-court advantage for the cream-and-crimson. You’d think that Fieldhouse moments would be part of the collective memories of candy-striped fans statewide.

But let’s partake in a short exercise. What is Indiana’s greatest Big Ten Tournament moment in the Circle City in men’s basketball? I’ll give you a moment to think about it.

That’s right, dig deep. Keep mining the recesses of your mind. Why do I hear crickets?

As I clear the cobwebs in my own head, in terms of good things that happened to Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament in Indy, I can only think of the 2022 run when the Hoosiers saved their NCAA Tournament bacon with a 2-1 performance.

Included were two of the three games Indiana has won by five points or less in Big Ten Tournament games played in Indianapolis – a five-point victory over Michigan and a two-point thriller against top-seeded Illinois. (The other was a 2006 five-point victory over Wisconsin.)

Past that? The cupboard is bare. There are infamous moments that jump to mind, such as former Hoosier Luke Recker’s heart-shattering buzzer-beater for Iowa in a 2002 semifinal in the first Big Ten Tournament played in Indy. Soon-to-be-outgoing coach Archie Miller was lustily booed in the tournament’s lone appearance at Lucas Oil Stadium in 2021.

There is infamy that had nothing to do with Indiana, such as the bizarre 2020 Big Ten Tournament game against Nebraska, where it seemed the entire nation seemingly coalesced during that game to the grim reality that COVID-19 was about to alter all of our lives.

Only in Indiana’s checkered Big Ten Tournament history could the Hoosiers win and not advance.

Past that, Indiana has largely entered and exited anonymously in the Circle City. The Hoosiers’ all-time Big Ten Tournament record in Indy is 7-11. Indiana has beaten a grand total of one ranked foe (No. 16 Illinois, 2022) among those seven victories.

The Hoosiers have had six one-and-done appearances at the Fieldhouse. Even if you exclude the 2008-10 post-probation period when the Hoosiers were mired in losing, that still leaves three other instances where cream-and-crimson tails were firmly planted between legs in front of the home folks.

The women don’t escape scrutiny, either. Indiana’s women have been better than the men – Heather Cassady and Jill Chapman led the Hoosiers to their lone Big Ten Tournament championship at the Fieldhouse in 2002. Teri Moren coached the 2022 team to the championship game at the Fieldhouse. But apart from that? Not much considering the women’s tournament has been played in Indianapolis far more often than the men’s tournament.

Indiana’s women are 19-24 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis and have 12 one-and-done appearances.

None of this is for lack of enthusiasm at the gate. Every Indiana Big Ten Tournament game I’ve been to in Indianapolis has been a Hoosier Nation takeover. Indiana fans always show up, it’s what they do, but in Indy, it’s almost never reciprocated with on-court success.

So why does Indiana struggle in the Big Ten Tournament in Indy? Part of it is Indiana’s uneven seasons in general since the tournaments began in 1995 (women) and 1998 (men), but even good Hoosiers teams have stumbled in Indy.

The 2016 Big Ten regular season men’s champions are one example as they went one-and-out. Indiana’s 2021 Elite Eight women’s team didn’t win in Indy, either.

Where the men are concerned, perhaps part of it is historical indifference. Bob Knight was famously opposed to the tournament’s very existence and that attitude has possibly settled in among fans who recall his stance.

Truth be told, I don’t think I’ve heard many (any?) Indiana fans put an emphasis on the Big Ten Tournament, apart from seasons where the Hoosiers had to win to get a NCAA Tournament berth. The vibe is that this is a program that has bigger fish to fry, in particular, the elusive sixth banner.

Well, sometimes reality slaps you in the face with the truth that you have to walk before you can run. Indiana’s .395 winning percentage in the Big Ten Tournament is only ahead of Northwestern’s among schools that have been in the conference since the inception of the tournament. Let that wash over you.

That dubious distinction alone should spur Indiana fans into giving this tournament a bit more emotional emphasis, but there’s something to be said for the enthusiasm a tournament run generates, too.

I was there for the Purdue men’s win in 2023 in Chicago as well as the Iowa women’s and Illinois men’s wins in 2024 in Minneapolis. The Big Ten Tournament championship didn’t define any of their seasons, but it undoubtedly added some spice.

For the 2024-2025 season, Indiana’s men’s and women’s teams will both be capable of making noise at the Fieldhouse. The in-arena support will be there. Home cooking for the Hoosiers will be served up piping hot.

It’s long past time for the Hoosiers to clean their Big Ten Tournament plate in their home state.