‘It was beyond our wildest dreams.’ Why one couple married at State College’s Pride festival
Last weekend, hundreds of people celebrated love and acceptance when State College hosted its second-annual Pride festival to recognize the LGBTQ community. One central Pennsylvania couple took that spirit a step further by making the event the backdrop for their wedding day.
Following Saturday’s parade, Travis Strube and Mike Bidoli saw an opportunity to do something truly special. Hoping to recognize their anniversary in style, they were spontaneously married at the event with the help of some volunteers and organizers from the Centre LGBTQA Support Network, which hosts State College’s Pride alongside the State College borough.
“We were just looking for information for someone who could marry us, and it evolved in front of our eyes into thinking, ‘Well, why don’t we just do it at the celebration?’” Strube said on a Zoom call three days after Pride. “We were just going to go somewhere and get married. It was beyond our wildest dreams. We couldn’t have even guessed that this was how it would turn out.”
Pride volunteers take center stage
Tying the knot at State College’s Pride festival wasn’t always the plan. The couple’s 11-year anniversary fell on June 10, and Strube and Bidoli knew for more than a decade that they wanted to get married as close to that date as possible. After Bidoli began working a new job in State College in late May, he spotted some fliers for the Pride celebration and thought the event could serve as a backdrop for the couple’s big day. They later ventured down to the courthouse to pick up a marriage license and brought it with them to Pride a few days later on June 11.
Still unsure of the day’s plan, Strube and Bidoli got started by volunteering at Pride and wound up setting up and breaking down traffic barricades during the parade. Once that was done, they set out to find someone who could make their marriage official.
Volunteers at the registration table made a few phone calls, and, within minutes, they learned that Centre LGBTQA Support Network co-founder and treasurer, the Rev. Mark Hayes, would happily officiate. Festival organizers took things a step further and offered to add the ceremony to the festival’s itinerary.
“We were just looking for someone to fill out the paperwork and make it legal. We were going to declare our marriage and then enjoy the festivities. We didn’t look for anything like this whatsoever,” Bidoli said. “So, the fact that everybody came together and were like, ‘Let’s lift these guys up. Let’s give them something to remember for their lives.’...It was just absolutely overwhelming. We couldn’t have asked for that.”
Holding hands, Strube and Bidoli walked through the festival crowd and took center stage at the Sidney Friedman Park pavilion. There, they were officially married as an energetic crowd cheered and celebrated the love of strangers.
“You could tell that there was just shock and awe in the crowd,” Bidoli said. “Nobody had expected it.”
Hayes, a minister emeritus from the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Centre County, said he was taken by surprise when asked to officiate a ceremony at Saturday’s festival. Recalling the request, he said he agreed to help after realizing it was “a perfect day for a wedding.”
“Saturday’s event was overwhelmingly emotional, with the opportunity for the Centre County community to embrace Michael and Travis and share in their joy and love,” Hayes said. “What a privilege to share tears — not of sadness and despair, but of utter joy.”
‘Exactly what Pride is about’
Bidoli and Strube hesitated to say they got lucky last weekend. Instead, they credited the Centre LGBTQA Support Network’s volunteers for going out of their way to support a couple attending their first Pride of any kind.
In addition to Hayes officiating, a handful of event organizers stepped up to help Bidoli and Strube tie the knot. Centre LGBTQA Support Network co-founder Tamar London spearheaded efforts to find capable volunteers, while Pride emcee Elaine Wilgus helped add a level of showmanship that infused the ceremony into the Pride festival.
“This is exactly what Pride is about,” said Cat Cook, the Centre LGBTQA Support Network’s director of operations. “It is a celebration of love and inclusivity, and to combine Pride with a wedding. ... Well, there really is no better.”
Residents of Hollidaysburg, Bidoli and Strube weren’t too familiar with State College before visiting this year’s Pride celebration. Bidoli grew up as a Penn State fan and would visit the borough with his father on football weekends, but trips to the area were often limited to a few days or a few hours.
Now, after experiencing Pride and the impact it can have, the couple holds a new perspective on the State College community.
“This was really our first time reaching out in the community in any way,” Bidoli said. “Just to see the way that the city has accepted everything ... I was blown away to see all of the Pride flags downtown and all of the banners of support in storefronts and restaurants. It was amazing to see that kind of overwhelming support, especially since this was one of the first years of Pride in State College.”
Already, State College Pride has grown considerably since its first year in 2021. The borough’s festivities rival others in the area, especially in regions that don’t host such widespread festivities during Pride Month. In Hollidaysburg, community members host small-scale Pride celebrations at some schools and businesses, but there isn’t an official Pride event.
Although backing for Pride in State College is surging in just the event’s second year, Bidoli and Strube know that not every community can say the same. The couple talked at length about the difficulties they’ve encountered while trying to be themselves and express their love — obstacles including prejudice, intolerance and even violence. And although they know not everyone can safely express themselves, Bidoli and Strube hope their story might help other LGBTQ community members live more comfortably.
“We have directly been attacked over who we are, and we decided that we wanted to stand up,” Bidoli said. “It’s amazing that we were able to do that in public at such an accepting event. Hopefully, others might find inspiration through us. If in any way, shape or form someone can take something positive from this, that – beyond our marriage – is an even bigger win. ... It’s amazing that we can get married in such a fantastic scenario. But as we see the reaction from this, we realize that this is so much bigger than just us.”
“If you can find inspiration from this, please use this to help yourself,” Bidoli continued. “Now that we’re a part of this community, that’s our goal.”
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