Fourth annual Hampshire Pride provides ‘a living, breathing force for equality and change’

NORTHAMPTON — Light rain and cool temperatures didn’t dampen the spirits at Hampshire Pride, which drew more than 15,000 participants and spectators to the parade, performances and rally on Saturday; after all, organizers said, queer and trans folks are used to being uncomfortable.

While marching on stilts, riding on floats and gliding on roller skates, parade participants made their way from Sheldon Field up to Main Street and down Crafts Avenue, ending with a party behind Thornes Marketplace and the E.J. Gare Parking Garage. About 100 contingents and 2,000 people marched in the parade, ranging from school groups to area businesses, community organizations and LGBTQ support groups.

This was the fourth year of Hampshire Pride. Clay Pearson, along with Celina Almendarez and Kayla Abney, founded and organized the first Hampshire Pride in 2023 in just nine weeks, after the former NoHo Pride fizzled following the pandemic. The first gay pride march in Northampton was held in 1982, when several participants marched with bags over their heads to protect their identities amid hateful protests.

“While Hampshire Pride may have started off as a party after the pandemic, it has grown into a movement — a living, breathing force for equality and change,” Pearson said while donning one of his signature sequin suits in a flashy array of pink and silver, paired with stiletto shoes.

Volunteers worked through the morning’s rain and cold weather to set up 130 vendor tents, resulting in a party that was exuberant and cheerful despite the gray skies, with an afternoon rally and performances across two stages. The Hampshire Pride Resists rally, which came after the parade, featured several activists and state and local politicians, including Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, Northampton Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra, U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, state Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa and state Sen. Jo Comerford.

“I love this country,” McGovern said in his speech. “But I am ashamed of how it is being run right now. … Look no further than what happened in Washington this week. I’m the top Democrat on the Rules Committee, and we had to fight back against an anti-trans bill. And I wish I could tell you that that was unusual, but it’s not. The people running Congress right now are bullies. They’re obsessed with attacking and dehumanizing queer people. They’re doing it practically every week and it’s disgusting.”

Locally, there have been issues for queer and trans families, too. Sabadosa pointed to one area hospital that recently ended gender-affirming care, and highlighted one family’s journey to protest that change. Although their child will receive care elsewhere, Sabadosa said care should be available to all who need it, rather than being told they need to hide and receive care elsewhere. Earlier this year, Baystate Health announced it would end gender-affirming medical care for patients under 18.

In the crowd, attendees were happy to show up, both as proud queer folks and as allies.

“We’re here because we want to support our community, show that there is love, and teach this little 1½-year-old about equality and justice growing up in the scary world that we’re in,” said Beth Markens, who was watching the parade with her son.

Kalina Dimova of Easthampton was chaperoning her child at the festival, but she said she makes an effort to attend every year as an expression of pride and support for the community, and to show her child what it means to be part of something.

“Some people are in a different position where there’s literally a threat to their existence and their safety,” Dimova said, “so I think it’s important to show up for those members of our community.”

The cheerful atmosphere at this year’s event, where people wore colorful beaded necklaces and face paint and complimented each other’s outfits in passing, was a far cry from the early days of Pride.

Montague resident Ali Wicks-Lim, founder and director of the volunteer organization R.O.A.R. (Rainbow Organizing and Response), who also gave a speech at the rally, remembers marching in her first Pride 33 years ago as a teenager — and the hateful words and nasty signs she was met with stayed with her. She wishes she could have seen the streets lined instead with supporters holding rainbow flags and cheering, and said she’s glad that today’s queer and trans youth are surrounded by love and protection.

Those experiences inspired her to start R.O.A.R., whose volunteers hold rainbow umbrellas to shield children and performers from hate at events like drag storytimes at area libraries and at Hampshire Pride. The protest against Saturday’s event was limited to one person wearing a MAGA hat and drawing attention to himself, Wicks-Lim said, and volunteers surrounded him with rainbow umbrellas to alert parents to his presence as a sign to keep moving elsewhere.

“I’m hearing more comments from people this year about how badly [Pride] was needed this year,” Wicks-Lim said. “It’s been a hard year to be a queer or trans person.”

Lorelei Erisis, a writer and activist who once held the title of Miss Trans New England, said that in today’s climate, resistance is more important than ever.

“For some of us, resistance may be just existing, and that’s good in a society that wants us to disappear — that is willing to kill us for the crime of being ourselves,” she said in her rally speech. “We will not disappear. For others, for those who don’t have the weapons of fascism already aimed at them, resistance may be standing up and fighting for us, with us.

“They may call us criminals,” she continued. “They will call us criminals. But we are not. And if it takes a year, a decade or the rest of our lives, we will fight for each other until every last one of us is free. Truly free. Together. I love you. Happy Pride.”