LOUISVILLE, Ky. — According to UCLA's Williams Institute, 4.9% of adults in Kentucky identify as LGBTQ+ as of Dec. 2023.
In the eyes of 73-year-old Albert Swarens and his husband, 66-year-old Norman Judd, there's a love of theirs that continues going strong. They’ve been together for nearly 20 years and even finish each other’s sentences.
“It’s been wonderful," Swarens said as he walked with Judd and their dog in Waterfront Park.
They met while attending a play with friends and sat side-by-side. They smiled at each other, exchanged numbers and the rest was history. Several decades ago, neither felt they could come out.
“In a small town, our parents were just like that," Judd said. "Our parents thought it was wrong to be gay, so we lived a lie for a long time.”
"But thank God our ex-wives are cordial with us ... we all have a family; everybody gets along.”
Swarens volunteered at the first Kentuckiana Pride Festival in 2000. He also served on a committee for 15 years.
Through the years, both men have been involved and give back to the community.
“We’ve made people realize that we just want inclusive, we want to be included and that we’re living life like everybody else out here,” Swarens said.
“Being able to contribute to Louisville and Indiana, (it's) amazing that we can be a part of that," Judd added.
Pride events happen across Kentucky. The Kentuckiana Pride Foundation and festival has brought people together in the area for 24 years and has significantly grown since.
“We’re working on education and affirming our different identities and giving back through in-kind services, donations," said Rodney Coffman, president of Kentuckiana Pride. “We have different avenues of how we give back to the community. Even today, in our 24th year, we’re looking at different ways to do more community outreach.”
The University of Louisville also has a new exhibit, "Fairness Does a City Good: A 25 Year Retrospective," at Ekstrom Library. It traces the history of Louisville's Fairness Campaign and the journey the city took to pass its Fairness Ordinance in 1999.
Among the galleries are materials from the Williams-Nichols collection, which they call a "living repository" of LGBTQ+ publications and histories. It is free and open to everyone.
“I think this exhibit is illuminating," said Cassidy Meuier, University of Louisville University Libraries imaging manager at the archives and special collections. "It kind of sheds a light on a part of Louisville's history that is really recent and not talked about as often."
Many artifacts are inside the exhibit, including clippings from a 1970s demonstration, a poster from the first gay pride week picnic in 1982 and many other photos and items representing activism and the rights of all Kentuckians.
“There’s a legacy in Kentucky of fighting for LGBTQIA rights," Meuier said.
Coffman said people in LGBTQ+ communities have given back for decades. New this year, the Kentuckiana Pride Foundation will bestow a community service award named after well-known community member Amirage Saling, who was known for always giving back over her life.
“One person can make a change," Coffman said.
Swarens said he has hope for the future.
“Oh, I just hope and pray that someday you don’t have to say, ‘That’s my gay brother,'" Swarens said. "You say, That’s my brother.' You say, ‘Those are my friends,’ not ‘My gay friends.'"
Swarens and Judd said they'll continue loving each other, plus their six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.