Marblehead Pride has been putting on Pride Month events for Marbleheaders for about six years now, and they are hosting three community events next month. Marblehead Pride is a queer-run group.
To kick off Pride Month, Marblehead Pride is collaborating with Shubie’s June 1 from noon-3 p.m. This event will have family-friendly activities, many Marblehead vendors, music, food, food trucks, and face painting. The event is rain or shine. Nick Esposito, Marblehead Pride co-president, said they are in the process of confirming a DJ, but there will be music regardless. He added that there will be food and spirits for parents and adults as well.
Marblehead Pride’s second event this Pride Month will be June 17 at 6 p.m. at The Landing Restaurant. The intention behind this evening is to celebrate Pride with music, community and good vibes.
The final event will be the annual flag raising ceremony at Abbot Hall June 21 at 3 p.m. There will be community speakers, a land acknowledgement and more. The Pride flag will be flying at Abbot Hall starting June 1, so it will be up all month, but the ceremony is being held later in the month as a way to spread the Pride festivities throughout the whole month of June, according to Esposito. He added that the Stonewall riots were toward the end of June, and it felt fitting to have the ceremony close to that June 28 anniversary.
“Many of us may have not grown up in communities that were as supportive or as visible, so creating that visibility for Marblehead for families of all different makeups or (people with) identities of all different makeups is part of (why we host these annual Pride Month events),” Esposito said. “You don’t have to live in Boston. You can live in a coastal community on the North Shore, (and) you can find your group and your people.
“I’m a therapist and social worker by trade, and a lot of my clients are LGBT-identified and local, so I think it’s important that as a community, being open and affirming has better outcomes for those kiddos and teenagers and young adults certainly.”
For more information, check out Marblehead Pride’s social media accounts.
