Montgomery County Announces Pride Event Lineup
County to host a family Pride day, baseball game, and performances to celebrate the LGBTQ community this month.
Pride Celebrations are underway in Montgomery County.
This year the Montgomery County Council has announced a lineup of events to celebrate the LGBTQ community. Montgomery County Council President Evan Glass (D-At-Large), the first openly LGBTQ member of the council, launched the pride month festivities five years ago and the traditions are still holding strong.
Glass and the Council began their Pride Celebrations with a flag-raising ceremony outside of the Council’s Executive Office Building in the Veterans Memorial Plaza on the first of June. Glass told Metro Weekly that he felt flying the Pride flag above the center of county government was the most meaningful event on the schedule.
“When we raised the Pride flag four years ago, there was a lot of hate and anger not only in our community but across the country for the actions we were taking,” Glass says. “We continue to raise the Pride flag every year because we are not backing down to haters and bigots and homophobes. We are here and we are members of this beautifully diverse community.”
In 2019, there was controversy surrounding raising the Pride flag because it was temporarily flown in place of a veterans’ flag commemorating prisoners of war and people who went missing in action. Although the problem was remedied the next day by adding extra ringlets to allow both flags to fly simultaneously, the one-day occurrence was trumpeted by conservative media outlets seeking to enrage their audiences over the alleged “snub” to veterans.
Despite the overhyped controversy, the first flag raising was considered a “significant milestone” for LGBTQ community visibility in Montgomery County.
In addition to the flag raising, Montgomery County Pride will host the annual celebration of Takoma Park Pride on Sunday, June 11, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m., beginning with a Kids’ Pride Parade at 10 p.m., face painting, and a Drag Queen Storytime with Ms. Hazel at 11 a.m.
Friday, June 16 marks the deadline for the Youth Pride Writing Competition, which encourages any Maryland public school student to submit in writing, either an essay or poem (maximum 250 words) about the importance of LGBTQ+ representation in their community, government, sports, books, movies, or television.
The following day, on Saturday, June 17, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Montgomery Pride’s Family Day will take place at the Bumper Car Pavilion in Glen Echo Park for LGBTQ-headed families and their allies. The celebration will feature arts and crafts activities, carousel rides, rainbow-colored desserts, and a family dance party. Those wishing to attend are asked to register in advance. To RSVP, attendees can reserve spots here.
Glass explains that it is important now more than ever to support and celebrate LGBTQ families.
“We live in a beautifully diverse community and want to celebrate all of our families, whether it is same-sex couples or other members of the LGBTQ+ community who are part of a family,” Glass said. “We want everyone to feel safe when here in Montgomery County.”
Also on the 17th, the Bethesda Big Train Collegiate Baseball team will hold its second annual Pride Night at Shirley Povich Field in Rockville, near Cabin John Regional Park. Gates open at 6 p.m., with the first 400 guests receiving Pride hand fans. Tickets can be purchased on Big Train’s website.
On Saturday, June 24, the City of Rockville will host its 7th Annual Pride Day from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Rockville Town Square. The event will feature live performances, information booths highlighting local businesses and community organizations, arts and crafts activities, and more.
To round out the month’s festivities, Montgomery County will host “Pride in the Plaza,” on Sunday, June 25, from 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Veterans Plaza in Downtown Silver Spring. The event will include live music and dance performances, spotlight queer-owned businesses and resources for LGBTQIA+ communities, and make health and STI screenings available to residents.
“Events like Pride signify that we are not going back in the closet, that we are going to continue fighting for our civil rights,” Glass says about the importance of Pride. “If we don’t stand up for ourselves, who is going to stand up for us? That’s what Pride is all about.”
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