Members of the UNMC/Nebraska Medicine community turned out on June 29 to take part in the Heartland Pride Parade in Council Bluffs, part of area Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month observances that also included a festival at the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Baxter Arena.
The med center had approximately 70 people march in the downtown Council Bluffs parade, including not only faculty, staff and students but family members and friends.
“It was a great turnout,” said Amy Dorton of the UNMC Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology, one of the team organizers.
The med center group carried a banner featuring both Nebraska Medicine and UNMC emblems.
“I saw a bystander tear up when she saw us coming and say to her friends, ‘I love that hospital!'” Dorton said.
UNMC and Nebraska Medicine’s participation in the event sends a message of support to the community, she added.
“It is imperative that we celebrate diversity and represent our organization at events such as Pride,” she said. “We are sending a vital message to patients, employees, students and the community — that we are committed to being inclusive and accessible to populations that have not always felt represented.”
This was the second year that UNMC and Nebraska Medicine have marched in the Heartland Pride parade. Dorton said she is hoping for an even larger group for next year’s event.
Is there a way to learn about this for next year? I would love to be a part of it but didn't get any notification that UNMC was participating.