ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Now in its third year, Annapolis Pride Parade and Festival will focus on a theme of “Protecting LGBTQIA+ Youth.”
Board chair Joe Toolan said it's especially relevant in light of current controversies and politics.
He said:
"There are, frankly, hundreds of book bans and legislation happening around the country that are really specifically affecting LGBTQIA+ people - specifically, trans folks and people of color - in a lot of spaces. So here in Annapolis and in Maryland, we recognize the importance of being there for our LGBTQIA+ youth. Unfortunately, a lot of youth in our community have received hate in our schools and their communities that they live in, and so, we want to do everything that we can to raise visibility for them, to know that they're not alone and there's other people like this."
A special logo for the event, which will be on all materials, was created by local artist Nikki Brooks.
The parade and festival will take place June 3, starting at noon on West Street. There will be about 140 vendors in the festival and another 100 representatives in the parade.
This year will feature more food trucks, balloon activities, businesses, and fun events for kids. The slate of entertainers has been expanded this year, and will be headlined by Whatever Mike.
"One of the things that I really like about Annapolis Pride that's a little bit unique from some of the other parades and festivals is that we've seen in the last two years that more and more families are coming out to this event," said Toolan. "So we really do consider it like a family-friendly Pride. And here in Annapolis, we see a lot of the local folks in elected offices really are coming out and supporting the community in ways that we haven't seen before, and so we've really worked this year to tailor it."
Besides the parade and festival, Annapolis Pride does advocacy work throughout the area and partners with groups like Trans Maryland and PFLAG.
"We want to raise the visibility and make sure that people know that we're here, and, if they need anything, they can reach out to us and we can try to help them with whatever they might need," he said.
More information is available at AnnapolisPride.org .
