As Philadelphia gears up for OURfest, a city-wide celebration of love, pride and the LGBTQ+ community happening this weekend, one powerful event set the tone with rhythm, vulnerability, and truth.

At Stir Lounge, tucked just off Rittenhouse Square, the lights were low Tuesday night, but the energy was electric. The mic was open, the spotlight was warm, and voices honest and unfiltered filled the room for "Loud & Proud," a National Coming Out Day poetry slam.

"Poetry is sort of like the most distilled and … honest form of literature," said Boston Gordon, co-producer of the event and founder of You Can't Kill a Poet, a long-running LGBTQ+ poetry series in Philadelphia.

Gordon has spent the past 11 years cultivating spaces where queer voices aren't just welcomed, they're amplified.

"What you're sharing is very raw and real and immediate, especially when you're doing it live like this, when you're sharing it out loud, with people in the room reacting, and you're feeding off the energy of the crowd," Gordon said.

That energy is what Stacy Vey, owner of Stir Lounge, hoped to foster by hosting the event.

"We need to hear what people want to say and just fuel kindness and support and compassion, not hate," Vey said.

Among the poets sharing their truth on stage was Rowan Mucci, who hopes the event empowers others to speak out.

"A voice for themselves. The ability to hear that somebody else is also thinking of these things, conceptualizing these ideas and experiencing this stuff, too," Mucci said. "That they also should feel empowered to maybe write something themselves and speak about it themselves in their format and their experience."

In a weekend that will feature parades, parties and celebration, Loud & Proud served as a reminder that sometimes the most powerful form of pride is simply speaking your truth and knowing someone is listening.