Pagosa Pride is a newly formed coalition whose mission is to “celebrate the LGBTQ+community, to advocate for equity and social justice, and to provide space for people for all colors, gender identities and sexual orientations to feel safe, welcome, and loved,” said Amy Nitchman, this year’s organizer.
The Pagosa Pride festival will take place on June 2 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Town Park.
The event schedule includes keynote speaker Vivian Smotherman, who will talk on her experience as a transgender woman, and LGBTQ+ issues at the state and federal level. Other activities will include karaoke, LGBTQ+ trivia and opportunities to win door prizes.
The first Pride Parade was organized in 1970 by Brenda Howard, a bisexual activist, and marked the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall riot. The riot started as resistance to police brutality at the Stonewall Inn in New York City.
“At the time there existed outdated ‘masquerade’ or ‘cross-dressing’ laws that suggested a ‘man’ or a ‘woman’ must be wearing a certain number of clothing items that matched the gender on their state-issued ID. The police took advantage of these laws to raid drinking establishments and arrest transgender and gender non-conforming individuals,” according to an article by Patty Housman at https://www.american.edu/cas/news/the-first-pride-was-a-riot.cfm.
On June 28, 1968, patrons of the Stonewall Inn fought back against the police brutality and injustice that had gone on for too long. June became the official month to commemorate the Stonewall riot and celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride in 1999 in a proclamation from President Bill Clinton. Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden have issued further proclamations, “but the battle for LGBTQ+ rights is far from over,” Houseman wrote.
Communities across the nation continue to celebrate June as Pride Month and to advocate for the rights of the LGBTQ+community.
Plans for the Pagosa Pride festival began on April 8 of this year, when Nitchman obtained the park permit and began outreaching other members of the community to participate in organizing the event.
“It’s my desire that Pagosa Pride will be an annual festival. There is also the potential for the Pagosa Pride coalition to continue promoting and advocating for LGBTQ+ issues in the community year-round,” said Nitchman.
To contact Pagosa Pride, please email PagosaPride@gmail.com.
