Learn all about ABigails Pride

Abigail Rowe is an 18 year old Freshman at Saginaw Valley State University.  She graduated from Brandon High School in June 2024.  She came out as bisexual in November of 2020 and started Abigail's Pride in April of 2021.  She Started Abigail's Pride as a way to create a safer and happier environment for LGBTQ+ youth in her community and the surrounding areas!   While attending SVSU Abigail will continue to run Abigail’s Pride as she pursues her degrees in Theatre and Public Administration.  

Our mission is to create a safe, happy, and healthy environment for LGBTQ+ youth and families in small, conservative towns like the one that Abigail grew up in.  We seek to provide a fun and educational experience for those who struggle to understand aspects of the LGBTQ+ community in order to foster more understanding and empathy.  Our hope is that our organization's efforts can help children and teens feel more comfortable in their own identity, despite the town that they are growing up in.  

 Abigail’s Pride started as a single event in Ortonville Michigan.  When Abigail first came out she wanted to attend a pride festival, but at age 14 she knew that none of the big city festivals were close enough for her to make it.  She decided that instead of going out to a festival she would bring the festival to Ortonville.  Very quickly, it was made apparent that there were many families in Ortonville seeking a family focused pride event.  In planning the first event, Abigail’s Pride became an official non-profit organization.  Now we have planned multiple events for the town of Ortonville and we have lots of plans for expansion in our future.   

In the future, we hope that Abigail’s Pride will continue to sponsor and host pride events in the small town of Ortonville Michigan and similar towns across the state.  We also hope to have an LGBTQ+ center that can serve as both a safe place LGBTQ+ youth and teens to hang out and relax as well as a place where they can seek peer counseling and professional mental health care.