Despite a heavy downpour at the height of Savannah Pride on Saturday, hundreds of people celebrating being gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender didn't let the weather damper their spirits to celebrate the 11th annual fest.

Cindy Ussery, 40, of Milledgeville, was holding her sleeping grandson, Jackson, age 20 months.

"This is his first Pride," she said. Ussery was there with her partner, Stacie McCant, 38. Jackson't tiny t-shirt read "I love my nanas."

"We've never been to Savannah Pride. We've been to Atlanta Pride," McCant said. Although they were soaked in the heavy rain that fell mid-afternoon, they said they wanted to stay for the full fest.

More than 200 people packed into Savannah's historic Johnson Square for the city's first Queer Power March on Friday, a way to engage activists to become involved in fighting for LGBT equality, said organizers.

People marched behind numerous banners such as "Repeal DADT Now" and "Marriage Equality Now." They held signs demanding the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act be passed as well as signs hitting on the local issue of demanding the Savannah City Council approve domestic partner benefits..

Organizers Jesse Morgan and Laura Cahill addressed the crowd after the march, saying "great things don't come to those who wait, they come to those who agitate."

"We had so many more people than we thought -- we said we'd be glad if we got 50 people there," said a thrilled Cahill at the Queer Jamz after-party held at the Mirage.

Morgan said the large number attending the first ever gay civil rights march shows Savannah is ready for a "queer revolution."

Derrick Martin, the gay teen from Cochran, Ga., who fought his school to be able to take his boyfriend to his senior prom, also spoke at the rally after the march and encouraged people to not be silent about demanding equality.

Savannah's 11 th Pride takes place Saturday. Morgan said the Queer Power March on Friday was a way to also give a political conscience to Pride the next day.