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On this day in 1990, the World Health Organization took the step of declassifying homosexuality as a mental. 118.International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobiaīy Justin Marsh | | General, In The NewsPeople gathered outside the Pride Center of Vermont to support the LGBTQ+ community on International Day against homophobia, transphobia, and biphobia.
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Patricia LeBoeuf can be reached at at on Twitter and 80, ext. "Speaking and educating is imperative," she said. Organizers plan to apply for grants to support their future efforts, as they're committed to an ongoing visibility campaign, Carton said. "It's way past time."ĭonations are appreciated, she said, and should be made out to Queer Connect Inc. There were a couple expected funding sources for Pride this year, but they backed out recently, she said.Ĭarton said that when she posted about the lost funding, organizers got enough donations to recover that amount within hours. "There's support in school that kids don't have in the summer," she said. It's important to them that they pick a time when college students and other students are in school, she said. Organizers plan to make Pride an annual effort, Carton said. Participants and organizers will also gather Sunday, June 30 for a picnic from 11 a.m. The Vermont Arts Exchange bus will transport young people to the prom toward the end of the festival, according to the release. Participants can request an invitation through Organizers are not publicly releasing the event's location. There will also be a Queer Youth Prom after the festival on Saturday by invitation only. The exhibit offers an intimate discussion of several objects, "specifically for the purpose of acknowledging and collecting the LGBTQ experience," Carton said. There will also be a special tour of a brand-new exhibit at the museum from 12:15 to 12:45 that same day. The Pride Poetry Slam will be held at the Bennington Museum from 11 a.m. is committed to supporting youth in the community, as LGBTQ youth are the most vulnerable people in the country and the world, she said. "We're going to have more kids and family-oriented activities than any other event I've been to," Carton said, adding that the weekend will feature something for everyone. There are also multiple, smaller events before and after the parade. The event will have live music from a band of local musicians formed especially for the event - the Pop-up Pride Band, as well as a DJ and dancing, an auction and performances by local drag queens Angelique DuBois, Chardonnay LeTease and Harmony Chanel Diamond. Pride Weekend will also include multiple other events besides the parade, including a kick-off Coming Out Bennington Celebration Friday, June 28 at 7 p.m. There are numerous community sponsors, including Rights and Democracy (RAD), the Bennington Farmers Market, Bold Strokes Books, United Counseling Service, the Vermont Arts Exchange and the Bennington Museum, according to the release. It became clear quickly that we want to do more than this."Ĭarton is director of Queer Connect Inc, which is organizing the effort on a volunteer basis to bring visibility to LGBTQ people to Bennington County and the surrounding areas, according to the release. The idea to hold a Pride Parade in Bennington came up at a planning meeting for Queer Connect Inc., a Bennington area umbrella organization formed earlier this year for "all things LGBTQ right here, in and around Bennington, Vermont."
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"We're making history 50 years after the Stonewall uprising," Carton said. The parade will be one day after the 50th anniversary of the historic Stonewall riots on June 28, 1969. "I've lived here almost 30 years, and it's easy to sort of get, I'll say, complacent, how important it is to affirm openly our rights, our needs, our basic needs as human beings to be seen for who we are," she said. It's been very difficult for local LGBTQ people to feel safe, Carton said. Then, of course, there's the realities too. "Pride is historically the biggest opportunity for people to come out proudly, on every level," Carton said. Organizers are seeking floats and participation from other towns in which Pride is an annual event, including Albany, New York, and Pittsfield, Massachusetts. It will end at People's Park on Depot Street, where there will be a Pride Festival from 2 to 5 p.m., including music, poetry, speakers and vendors, according to a media release from event organizers. The Bennington parade will line up near the Bennington Museum at 1 p.m on Saturday, June 29.