Amid anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment popping up across the country, a group of Bath organizations banded together to create the city’s first Pride Festival.
The event will be held Friday, June 16, from 4-7 p.m. at Waterfront Park downtown.
“Bath has never had a Pride event,” said Liz Kovarsky, director of the Sagadahoc County Working Communities Challenge Initiative, one of the festival’s organizers. “We said, ‘Wow, that’s pretty amazing.’ It feels behind the times, and what a great way to show one of our most underserved subsets of youths that we celebrate them and care about them.”
This event is free and will feature games, food trucks, drag performances and booths for local LGBTQ+ organizations and artists.
“This is a family-friendly event,” Kovarsky said.
This year’s celebration comes amid heightened national tension, as some states pass restrictions on gender-affirming care, bathroom access and sports participation for trans people, and consumers call for boycotts of retailers who show support for the LGBTQ+ community.
“Looking at all the anti-LGBTQ bills going on in politics and government, there has been a lot of negativity and fear, and this is an opportunity to say, ‘We don’t support that,’ ” Kovarsky said. “LGBTQ people will exist no matter what, so let’s have fun and celebrate who we are together.”
Rioters and vandals have targeted recent Pride events. Last year, motorcyclists defaced the Brunswick Pride crosswalk by leaving skid marks, and in Idaho, police arrested 31 people accused of trying to organize a riot at a Pride parade.
Organizers notified Bath police of the festival and police Chief Andrew Booth said his department will review the plans.
The Bath Pride Festival is one of a growing number of Pride events across Maine. Brunswick is holding its second Pride Festival June 10 and Gorham is holding its first Pride Festival June 24.
The Sagadahoc County Working Communities Challenge Initiative, funded by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, seeks to provide programs, jobs and mentoring to reduce hopelessness for local youth, among other initiatives. About 20 other organizations, including Mid Coast–Parkview Health, the Beth Israel Congregation, Coastal Enterprises, Inc., donated to fund the festival. Bath Art Hop, Midcoast Maine Community Action and the Midcoast Youth Center are co-organizers.
The festival will feature a raffle to raise money for next year’s festival.
“We are hoping to make it an annual event,” Kovarsky said.
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