By: Paul Goldberg, Staff Writer

After national backlash, the town of Starkville in Mississippi, will move forward with its first ever gay pride parade this month.

The Starkville Board of Alderman on Tuesday voted again on whether or not to approve the historic PRIDE parade and this time, the vote came in as a tie 3-3.

Lucily mayor Lynn Spruill who has been a strong supporter of the LGBT community, cast the deciding vote greenlighting the parade which is now scheduled to take place on March 24.

You will remember when we reported on how the Starkville Board of Alderman Received Major Backlash last month after denying the permit for the first ever Gay Pride Parade to be held in the town. In fact even after a majority of people spoke out in favor for the event at a public hearing on the event, the Alderman still voted against the permit provoking nationwide outrage that put the town of only 25,000 in the national spotlight.

The main sponsors of the historic PRIDE event, Starkville Pride, went forward with a federal lawsuit after the initial vote claiming that town officials had discriminated against LGBTQ residents and violated their freedom of speech rights.

Tuesday’s pressured vote came after Alderwoman Sandra Sistrunk asked the board to reconsider the permit, calling the entire affair “a bit of a growing pain for the city.” “I think we’re in a position where we can make a more measured and reasoned vote tonight,” said Sistrunk said.

Roberta Kaplan, the lawyer who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Starkville Pride, posted on her twitter page that her law firm was “so incredibly proud” to represent Starkville Pride.

RELATED: LGBT Politics | LGBT Discrimination | PRIDE

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