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Planning for this year’s Pride began in coordination with Governor McKee’s announcement that mandates will be lifted to allow venues more capacity, particularly those with outdoor spaces. It’s a great show of solidarity and community.” “You can see all of the different groups celebrating, from elder queers to today’s youth. “Pride is a great celebration of love and life and community,” says Senator Tiara Mack, who recently made waves as Rhode Island’s first openly queer Black person elected to the senate. In 2019, Reader’s Digest ranked Providence one of 12 perfect places to stay to celebrate Pride, citing the live music, block parties, and unique boutique hotels as reasons to check out the annual event.īut the impact stretches far beyond just economic Pride is an integral thread in the city’s social fabric, which is why leaders like Governor Dan McKee and Mayor Jorge Elorza have pledged their commitment to making the celebration happen this year.
#PROVIDENCE GAY PRIDE 2021 GENERATOR#
It is one of the key summer events, a strong revenue generator for hotels and restaurants, and an integral part of our summer marketing,” she adds. “Pride is a citywide celebration of that community that is enjoyed by a wide range of people. “Providence has been recognized nationally as a top LGBTQIA+ travel destination because of its warm, welcoming, and diverse LGBTQIA+ community,” says Kristen Adamo, president and CEO of the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau. The popularity of Pride has certainly contributed to Providence’s reputation as a gay-friendly city. “While it’s great that we now have the support of so many allies at our celebration, I do miss when it was more of a middle finger to the general population – a showing of queerness.” Very often now, I think back on how Pride was truly a community event where LGBTQIA+ came together to celebrate their uniqueness,” Jonz reflects. LaDiva Jonz, Providence’s oldest living drag queen, explains that “For me, Pride has always been about standing up in the world with like-minded individuals and saying: I am gay and I deserve to be treated like everyone else. This year, let’s celebrate community and each other, but the fight continues.” “We are emerging from a really dark time.
#PROVIDENCE GAY PRIDE 2021 SERIES#
“We must use this ‘coming together’ in June – this ‘coming out’ – to celebrate, but along with our celebration of achievement, we must recognize that we all enjoy some measure of privilege because of that valiant band of renegade warriors, those original freedom fighters, who spilled their blood on that city street, just outside that Village bar, on that hot summer night in June,” says Wilson, harkening back to the Stonewall uprising, a series of protests in NYC triggered by the raid on The Stonewall Inn nightclub, in June of 1969. “As I reflect upon this year’s Pride celebration, I cannot help but remember the profound loss suffered by so many this year,” begins Joe Wilson, Jr., who is an actor, director, producer, professor, and artist with Trinity Repertory Company. But Anthony Santurri, business owner and former RI Pride member, passionately assures us: “There is going to be a Pride celebration this year.”Īnd this year, it will be organized by another ragtag group of men and women, just like it started. Celebrations were cancelled primarily due to the pandemic, but there were also challenges within Rhode Island Pride, the nonprofit that puts together the annual event. Of course, last year threw a wrench in things.
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Dozens of youth and adult advocacy groups now exist, sexual orientation is beginning to be represented in leadership, and that original march blossomed into PrideFest, which pre-COVID was drawing thousands to the Creative Capital (estimated at 60,000 in 2019). We’ve come a long way since that first procession, including marriage equality, repeal of sodomy laws, and ban of conversion therapy. Why paper bags? Because it was 1976, and while the nation was celebrating its bicentennial, living an openly gay life could easily mean being disowned by family and friends, police harassment, and getting fired despite this, and state and city road blocks, these brave trail blazers took to the streets for Providence’s first-ever Pride parade.
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Picture this: A ragtag group of 75 gay individuals, some with paper bags over their heads, marching through Kennedy Plaza.