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The Bangor Pride parade and festival is this weekend. We encourage everyone to join in celebrating LGBTQ+ Mainers in the Bangor area and across the state.
The annual parade starts at 11 a.m. Saturday on Main Street in Bangor, followed by the festival in West Market Square until 4 p.m. Other events include a dance party and drag show at 7 p.m. on Friday at the Bangor Arts Exchange and another drag show at the Brewer Eagles Club Saturday evening.
This weekend’s events provide an important opportunity to celebrate people for being who they are, and to give them space to celebrate themselves when society doesn’t always make that an easy thing to do.
“Given the current political climate we believe it’s more important than ever to create safe and affirming spaces, and to allow people to honor themselves and to be loved by their community,” Jill Henderson, the communications director for Health Equity Alliance, the nonprofit that organizes Bangor Pride, told Bangor Daily News reporter Emily Burnham in May. “It’s really important to experience that show of community support, not just from people in Bangor, but from folks across the state who travel here for Pride.”
That community support can be a wonderful and powerful thing, especially in the face of anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment and laws that have been swirling around the country.
“This year, with a lot of different legislation that’s happening and a lot of emotions that are coming up for the LGBTQ+ community that now is the time to realize that we have strength in our community and together is the way we are going to be able to move forward,” volunteer coordinator Justine Ravenscroft said last weekend during Portland’s Pride festivities, as reported by Maine Public.
We wish Pride could simply be a celebration, but it also requires a recognition of the many ways that LGBTQ+ rights are being challenged — whether it’s through bans on gender affirming care, efforts to limit inclusion and education, hostility toward drag shows or other efforts. State lawmakers have turned away some harmful proposed legislation here in Maine, but that has not been the case in many states across the country.
So to anyone who might be feeling upset or aggrieved at the notion of celebrating Pride, we have a few thoughts: If you don’t want to go to a drag show, then don’t. The people there will still have fun in your absence. If you don’t feel comfortable wearing a rainbow shirt you see on display at a store, then don’t buy it. But don’t let your discomfort dictate other people’s existence or freedom to be themselves.
Pride shirts and Pride parades aren’t going to turn your kids gay. That’s not how any of this works. What Pride does do, however, is provide support and love to people who frequently face hate and discrimination while simply trying to live their lives.
If, like us, you are happy LGBTQ+ Mainers exist and want to be themselves, we encourage you to join the Bangor Pride celebration this weekend. Supporting our neighbors, friends and family during Pride — and throughout the year — can be a simple but powerful gesture of acceptance and love.
