A diverse crowd of all ages and races filled several blocks on Harrison Street in Easton on Saturday; and for those who doubted if such a celebration might ever occur in their lifetimes, this was more than a beautiful sunny day. The Delmarva Pride Festival was sponsored by the Delmarva Pride Center, a community service organization of volunteers dedicated to creating a positive environment of services and support for persons of all sexual orientations and gender identities throughout the Delmarva community.
Over 60 tables and booths lined several blocks along Harrison. The organizations and vendors participating included the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Caroline County and Easton YMCAs, Dorchester County Health Department, Mid Shore Pro Bono, Mid Shore Behavioral Health, Talbot County Free Library, Delmarva Pride, Quiet Wealth, LGBTQ Professionals, For All Seasons, Talbot Interfaith Shelter, Talbot County Department of Social Services, Chesapeake College Pride, Planned Parenthood, Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, The Arc, Talbot Humane, Jas Snack Shop – and many more.
Log Cabin Republicans of Maryland also participated, as did the Maryland Democratic Party, Talbot Democratic Women’s Club, Talbot Democratic Forum, and Democratic candidates Michele Dappert for Talbot County Council, Jim Bruce for Talbot County Council. representation for Wes Moore for Governor of Maryland, Republican Talbot County Council candidate Kyle O’Donnell, and candidate Naomi Hyman for Maryland State Senate.
On a day filled with both sunshine and relief, one visitor expressed his wish that Pride had been around earlier so that he wouldn’t have had to wait until he was 50 to come out; and a Log Cabin Republican, noting that they are not always received so warmly, appreciated that people here seemed “civilized.” A teacher also greeted a former student, exclaiming, “You are beautiful!” And most of us would likely agree that she truly was the most attractive person there.
There was more. The eleventh annual Juneteenth celebration, sponsored by the Academy Art Museum, Building African American Minds (BAAM), the Frederick Douglass Honor Society, and Talbot County Library, was just around the corner on South Street. This year’s celebration of the day in 1865 when a quarter of a million people learned of their freedom included the music of Dat Feel Good and Julie Outrage, exhibitions of paintings and illustrations, and food vendors including Scottish Highland Creamery, Danielle’s Pit Stop, and Gabee’s Icees.
This was clearly a day of sunshine and progress for the Mid-Shore.
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