AEP withdraws from Columbus Pride march, festival following outages

AEP has withdrawn from the Columbus Pride parade and festival this weekend, according to Stonewall Columbus, which organizes the annual celebration.

AEP employees will continue to participate, but employees won't walk as a team as had been planned.

In an internal AEP email shared with The Dispatch, AEP leadership cited concerns of a “slim chance” of customers directing frustrations at the AEP team walking in Saturday’s Pride parade, after the company intentionally shut off power to customers following severe storms this week.

AEP leadership also said in the email that it didn’t want to distract from the purpose of Pride.

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AEPs reason for withdrawing

"AEP continues to be a proud supporter of the LGBTQ+ community and PRIDE events across our service territory," the company said in a statement Friday morning.

"Many AEP employees are participating in the Columbus PRIDE celebration this weekend, but the decision was made not to participate as an organized AEP group to ensure that nothing distracts from the positive nature of the event. We also are mindful of the safety of our employees following threatening social media posts related to the outages earlier this week."

Stonewall Columbus' response

Stonewall Columbus Executive Director Densil Porteous said he understood AEP’s decision not to participate as a team in the march — which kicks off at the corner of Broad and High streets Saturday at 10:30 a.m. — or be present at the festival Friday and Saturday at Goodale Park, where companies typically set up information tables.

"Their expression of concern, which I appreciated, was that they didn't want any issues or frustration from the community that may be there toward them ruin such an important celebration for us," he said.

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Porteous said AEP had registered more than 300 people to march.

He emphasized AEP's contribution to Stonewall's "Pride 365" initiative, which includes corporate financial support for year-round Stonewall programming for the LGBTQ community.

The company is listed as a "premier" sponsor on the Stonewall website.

"I'm a little bit sad for them because they did step up so much and really wanted to be a part of this opportunity," he said.

"I know that they had made a huge commitment to show up for the community. They don't want to take away from this moment for us and I respect that. It's a safety concern as well. They don't want to put anyone at harm."

Dispatch Reporter Mark Williams contributed to this report.

ethompson@dispatch.com

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: AEP withdraws from Stonewall Columbus Pride march and festival