Molly Pinta is organizing Buffalo Grove, Illinois, first Pride parade. | Photo: Courtesy of Carolyn Pinta/YouTube
After attending her very first Pride last month, seventh-grader Molly Pinta has decided it was high time her own town got its first parade too.
The 12-year-old, who identifies as gay, marched proudly with her mother Carolyn during Aurora Pride Parade in the Chicago suburbs last month.
Amazed by the experience, Molly thought to help her town – Buffalo Grove, Illinois – to organize its own march and celebrate the LGBTI community.
‘We felt so amazed and wowed,’ she told NBC News.
‘I imagined having that in my hometown would be so cool and seeing the town supporting the community.’
Molly and her mom Carolyn at Aurora Pride parade last month. | Photo: Carolyn Pinta
Molly got to work
Molly immediately reached out to Indivisible Aurora, the committee which organized Aurora Pride Parade.
‘We all couldn’t help but be impressed and supportive. We’re certainly rooting for her,’ Chuck Adams, founder and executive director of Indivisible Aurora, told NBC.
He also said: ‘Molly has such a self-awareness for her age and we’re just thrilled to be a part of it in any role we can play.’
She raised $6,500 for Buffalo Grove Pride
Setting up a fundraising page was the first step. Molly started her own on GoFundMe and has already raised nearly $6,500 at present (12 July). The final target is $30,000.
She also posted a video on Facebook asking family and friends to contribute to the cause.
Sporting beautiful rainbow hair, Molly appeals to her viewers to help fund the event, but, most importantly, to attend the march next year.
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‘As a gay child, I would love to see a Pride celebration in my town,’ she says.
‘Growing up in the closet is hard, but saying that Buffalo Grove supports the gay community, it will make someone in the closet feel seen and accepted.’
Buffalo Grove first Pride will be next June
‘I recently went to Aurora’s parade, and it was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. It was inspiring to see a parade that’s main focus was acceptance and equality,’ Molly explains.
She would want Buffalo Grove Pride to be as inclusive and family-friendly as Aurora Pride was. Her parents are helping her through the long process that will bring the party to town next 2 June 2019.
‘We would like children, adults, elderly, everyone included,’ she says in the video.
Molly Pinta is campaigning for inclusivity in her own town. | Photo: Carolyn Pinta
Molly founded The Acceptance Club at her school
As if this girl wasn’t inspirational enough, Molly also founded The Acceptance Club, a ‘gay-straight alliance’ at her middle school. She came up with the idea after attending her uncle’s same-sex wedding in 2017. The club has now more than a dozen members and meets weekly.
Molly is hoping to get the attention of her role model, TV host and gay icon Ellen DeGeneres. It might be just a matter of time before we see this incredible girl on Ellen’s show.
Read more about Prides:
Missed out on Pride month? These are the highlights of parade season
Dads surprise their LGBTI kids with adorable rainbow bus to Pride
