Springfield officials and community gathered on the city hall steps Thursday, raising the LQBTQIA+ Pride flag and kicking off a weekend of events leading up to the 4th annual Springfield Pride Parade being held Saturday.
Taurean Bethea, is director of the organization that puts on the parade. He said this weekend will also include fundraising events for their Safe Spaces program, which focuses on ing queer youth in schools.
"Our main focus is to just build community with our youth and show them not only peer and peer leadership, but also show them the city s them as well," he said.
Springfield City Councilor Michal Fenton said as a gay man he is proud of the worki being done to the LGBTQIA+ community in Springfield.
"It's said often said that the first pride was a riot, and it's true. And since then, we've come a very long way in all fields... but it's also true that there's a lot of work to do," he said. "We see our trans brothers and sisters across the country, particularly in the south, but also in places like Texas and Florida being persecuted. And the work is not done. So this event, this movement continues to remain important," he said.
Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno recalled approving the city's first Pride Parade 4 years ago.
"We thought we might have 500 people marching... We had nearly 5,000 people from all walks of life marching down State Street, all the way down to a restaurant row area with not one issue, not one problem. It was a beautiful mosaic of Springfield and beyond," he said.
Sarno applauded Bethea and the work being done for queer youth in the city.
"It is because of Taurean's efforts and many leaders in this field, they have helped individuals be able to work with families. That's very difficult at times, family acceptance. And many times that does occur, but sometimes it does not occur," he said. "Your child is your child. And love is very, very important."
The Springfield Pride Parade steps off on Saturday, as do the Greenfield and Pittsfield pride parades. Other Western Massachusetts communities will be holding events throughout Pride month, including Amherst, Chicopee, and North Adams.
Some specific Pride events occurring throughout the month of June include a Berkshire LGBTQ+ Pride Art Exhibit on June 13; a Pride Festival in Chicopee on June 14 from 12-5 p.m.; a Holyoke ¡Buen Provecho! Drag Brunch Pride Edition, an 18+ only event on June 8 from 11a.m.-2 p.m; a Queer Prom in Holyoke on June 13 from 5-8 p.m. and the Holyoke Pride Rainbow Run 5k and 1 mile fun walk on June 14.
NEPM intern Victoria Carreras contributed this story.
