It is that time of the year when people bring out their rainbow flags and join in on the fun because June is Pride Month. However, this year’s Pride Month looks different as many of the traditional festivities cannot take place due to the pandemic.
Pride Month is celebrated all across the globe with tons of events like festivals, parades, and concerts. Baltimore Pride usually draws tens of thousands of people and hosts one of the oldest parades in the nation.
Unfortunately, for the last two years Baltimore has not been able to hold its annual parade due to Covid-19 restrictions.
“Of course that makes us sad and the community sad because that's something the community associates with Pride,” Karen Remaley, associate director of The Pride Center of Maryland, said.
While the parade cannot happen, Remaley said the pride center has done all they can to still celebrate and emphasize the importance of supporting the LGBTQ community.
In lieu of the parade and the events that followed, this year the pride center is hosting events on a smaller scale at places such as restaurants and venues that are open.
The first event will be the Baltimore Pride fashion show on June 13 at Safari Night Club.
Remaley wants everyone to still feel involved and supported, so these events will take place on the same dates that the events have been in the past. In place of the parade they are going to host a live stream event that will feature their sponsors and interviews showcasing community members reflecting on Pride and their past experiences.
The pride center is focusing the events this year to be within Pride week, from June 13 to June 20.
Since the pandemic, the pride center has focused on getting people to think about and support pride all year round. “The pandemic emphasized for us that you can’t just count on a public event that is once a year. There’s been a desire to do it but certainly a focus on it more now,” said Remaley.
Baltimore Pride has taken place for over 40 years and services around 10,000 community members. They have individuals on staff to help with health and housing services, and to connect people to resources all year long.
Remaley misses being able to service their community in person and is anticipating moving to their new building in the Fall that will have amenities such as a digital cafe and fitness studio, and allow them to expand their support.