Pride Worcester Festival brings the proud — and persecuted — together downtown
WORCESTER — Members and supporters of the LGBTQ+ community put an exclamation point on Worcester Pride Week Saturday downtown, where a large crowd — some old, some new — gathered for the annual Pride Worcester Festival.
“Happy Pride, everybody!” Mayor Joseph M. Petty shouted emphatically as he and other politicians shared the stage with far more colorfully dressed event organizers.
Saturday’s event, as the mayor noted during his remarks, marks nearly a half-century of celebrations of pride events held in the city.
While multiple speakers saluted the longevity of the event here, many also stressed the peril of the ongoing struggle for LGBTQ+ rights nationwide.
“We’re always on the chopping block,” emcee David Conner of Pride Worcester said as he stressed the importance of voting.
U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern spoke about his concern about a wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation making its way through states nationwide.
“We need to be vigilant and focused, and fight back against people who masquerade as leaders, but really are bigots,” he said in reference to the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law in Florida.
As he looked out on the collection of colorful tents, people and artists that stretched down Franklin Street near City Hall, McGovern called it, “the most beautiful sight in the world.
“This is a crowd that knows that love will always trump hate,” the chairman of the U.S. House Rules Committee said, before quoting the performer Pink and exclaiming, “You are perfect!”
47 years of perseverance
Following speeches from politicians, Holy Cross history professor Stephanie E. Yuhl spoke about the genesis of the city’s pride parade.
In 1975, a group of 100 people marched from downtown to Crystal Park, she said, where they were met with slurs, rocks and “all sorts of pain.”
Yuhl, the lead scholar of the Worcester History Museum’s project LGBTQ+ Worcester, talked about the importance of the community owning its history.
Yuhl warned that false statements about the past are often used as weapons against the LGBTQ+ community and urged people to share their stories with the museum.
“Claim your stories,” she said. “Claim your power.”
While the city has a lengthy history of holding pride parades — and many in the crowd have been to prior showings — others saw Saturday’s event from a fresh perspective.
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Nicholas Omondi, a Kenya native, sought asylum and came to Worcester two years ago after he was beaten and hospitalized for being gay.
“In Kenya, they do not hold things like this,” said Omondi, who added it is hard to put into words the emotions his first Pride Worcester event summoned.
“I am (finally) among people that are like me,” he said, marveling at the simple act of people in the crowd waving the Pride flag as they watched a performance.
“People do not waive those flags in Kenya,” he said as he detailed the social ostracism he endured in his home country.
Omondi said he is enjoying his time in Worcester, where he plays for the Worcester Warriors soccer team.
'I feel free'
Saturday was a day of dual celebration for Omondi — it was both his 27th birthday and a day he felt a heightened sense of acceptance.
“Right now," he said, "I feel free.”
Omondi was not the only person experiencing such feelings Saturday. He is one of more than 30 people being housed and supported by Hadwen Park Congregational Church’s LGBT Asylum Task Force.
Started in 2008, the Task Force supports LGBTQ+ people seeking asylum as a result of their sexual identities.
Pastor Judy Hanlon — who Omondi thanked heartily Saturday — saluted Petty for steering The Boston Globe her way several years ago for a story she said led to a surge in donations.
Still, it costs about $50,000 per month to provide food, housing and other necessities to the church’s clients, she said. She asked that folks consider attending the asylum’s annual gala event Sept. 24 at the DCU Center.
Hanlon said for her church, the task force — and the diversity of color and sexual preference found every Sunday in its pews — reflect its views.
“I look out there and I think, ‘This is what Jesus would be happy with,’” she said.
Days like Saturday, Hanlon said, are when the importance of the work comes into clearer relief. Watching Omondi and others experience Pride Worcester, she said, is invaluable.
“Some of them just cry,” she said, adding that many of them are hesitant at first to get out and mingle, still mindful of the extreme social stigmas of their homelands.
“I tell them, 'You’re free,’” she said. “And they’re having so much fun.”
Saturday's event, put on by Pride Worcester, featured a large collection of artists and vendors, as well as various nonprofits who provide assistance to LGBTQ+ youth.
A steady stream of performers took to the stage to provide entertainment for the five-hour event, which featured several food trucks as well as a wine truck.
One of the afternoon's most well-received performers was a city artist who won't be visiting the latter truck anytime soon: 13-year-old Serenity Jackson, who raps with a positive vibe, received hearty applause during her set.
"Being a leader is my motivation," she sang as people waived Pride flags high. "You can do it, too."
Contact Brad Petrishen at brad.petrishen@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @BPetrishenTG
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Pride Worcester Festival brings the proud together downtown
