June is Pride Month and this year RGV Pride is making some changes.

Event organizers spoke about the history of RGV Pride and what they're doing differently this year.

"Anytime someone asks where it started, and I let them know it started in Harlingen, Texas. They kind of pause, and they look a little confused, and I'm like yep, it happened here, in Harlingen," Valley Aids Council Pride Event Coordinator Steven Cano said.

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Cano is talking about the Rio Grande Valley's first organized pride event. In 2013, it was known as Pride In The Park.

"The South Texas Equality Project, which is a coalition of individuals from across the Valley, wanted to create a coalition of LGBTQ leaders and via that coalition, they said we need to do something that highlights our community, that emphasis the diversity and inclusion of our community and overall the acceptance and health-related issues that LGBTQ members face here in the Rio Grande Valley," Cano said.

The event in 2013 was a hit, and organizers knew they were going to need more room.

They relocated again to the Harlingen Sports Complex; that year, also a hit.

"That year, they hosted nearly 2,000 people, which was amazing, and that's when they said we need to go bigger," Cano said.

And bigger they went. They headed over to the McAllen Convention Center and stayed there up until 2019.  

But then in 2020, our world changed.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced this event, like everything else, to go virtual.

By 2021, the event was back to in-person at the Harlingen Convention Center. By the following year, they moved again.

"In 2022 and 2023, we headed off to the island. We said you know what, we can't beat the Texas heat, so let's just have fun and play in it," Cano said. "The Cameron County Amphitheater was so much fun, we loved it."

But RGV Pride was once again on the move.

"I like to tell people we go on the road. It doesn't have a home because as RGV Pride, we are everywhere, so we want to make sure that we are everywhere," Cano said.

And this year, they're planning something special.

"RGV Pride will be coming back to the upper Valley area, in McAllen. Not in June, I want to make sure everyone knows, not in June. But we have actually decided at this time to beat the south Texas heat, and we're moving our event to October 19 in celebration of LGBTQ+ History Month and the endings of National Hispanic and LatinX Heritage Month."

Despite the change, Cano says RGV Pride and the Valley Aids Council will still be out at a lot of events this month

"So come on out the entire month of June and celebrate the diverse and inclusive community that is the LGBTQ+ people here in the Rio Grande Valley," Cano said.

To keep up with all their events, click here.

RGV Pride, made in the 956.