Plastered with multicolored flags and banners, Veterans Park in Holyoke was transformed by Pridefest this past Saturday, June 27.
With performances from drag queens, food from vendors, and conversation sparked by community organizations, Pridefest was one of the final events this year in Holyoke’s Pride celebrations. Other events included Youth Queer Prom, the Holyoke Rainbow Run, and the Buen Provecho Drag Brunch. Pridefest and other such Pride events are able to accomplish more than just celebration, said several attendees. The event aims to raise awareness of the multitude of struggles the queer community still faces.
Since January of 2017, there have been 330 homicides of trans people in America.
The Trump Administration has enacted numerous policies since the start of its second term limiting access to gender affirming care. This includes executive orders “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to The Federal Government,” “Federal Bureau of Prisons Guidance on evaluation and treatment of inmates with Gender Dysphoria,” among others.
This past Tuesday the Supreme Court upheld laws banning transgender athletes from taking part in girls and women’s sports in West Virginia and Idaho.
Mikey Perez, who attended Pridefest for the Communist Party of the USA, believes Pride events can humanize these topics and promote allyship.
“Building that radical empathy for people who are different from you, that’s genuine community, that’s loving your neighbor,” said Perez. “Loving people who, sure have small identical differences, but who are fighting for the same thing. We all want healthcare. We all want jobs. We all want a roof over our heads where we don’t have to worry about the water turning off and on, things like that.”
Venus White, another attendee at the table for Communists of America, highlighted the ability of Pride to show young members of the LBGTQIA+ community that there are people out there who will support them.
“There’s people out there for you, even if your parents aren’t supportive, or your friends, or your town, or whatever isn’t supportive, there are people who are going to be here for you,” said White, emphasizing that, “there’s reasons to stay.”
Justin Brooks, a history and global studies teacher at Williston as well as the Faculty advisor to the GSA (Gay Student Alliance), put it simply.
“Pride is about using joy as a middle finger to the haters,” said Brooks. “It’s about bliss and laughter and humanity and connection and authentic self-expression in the face of a world that tells you that you do not deserve to be who you are.”
Brooks asserted that “Pride is liberation from a lifetime of self-rejection and internalized fear.”
