The rainbows have returned.
Pride and Transgender Pride flags were placed throughout downtown Annapolis to celebrate the start of LBGTQ+ pride month on Monday, just before Annapolis Pride announced their online pride event.
The event will be livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook June 27 beginning at 4 p.m. The traditional festival and other events were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“The parade and festival may be canceled this year, but the spirit of pride is not,” Annapolis Pride founder Jeremy Browning said in Monday’s announcement.
“Annapolis Pride encourages residents, businesses, and community groups to show their pride inside and out. Help us raise visibility and awareness to create a safe and welcoming environment where all people feel welcome.”
Pride participants can be part of the livestream by turning their home into a “float” and showing off their pride outfits. An interest form can be found at annapolispride.org/pride-2020 where there is also information for online rehearsal sessions.
Information about specific entertainment will be announced later this month, the organization said.
Founded in 2018, Annapolis Pride is a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer+ advocacy organization focused on making Annapolis and Anne Arundel County safe for the queer community. The group has worked with the Anne Arundel County Public Library system and has helped create liaison positions in the Annapolis Police Department, Anne Arundel County Police department and County Executive’s office.
June is recognized worldwide as LGBTQ+ Pride Month, with this year marking the 51st anniversary of the Stonewall uprising in New York City, a pivotal moment in history for the LGBTQ+ rights movement.
Browning selected Anne Arundel County Public Library CEO Skip Aud as the Annapolis Pride parade grand marshall in February.
The organization also announced Monday it signed a letter condemning the killing of George Floyd along with more than 150 other LGBTQ+ organizations joining together to combat racial violence. Floyd was killed after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for almost 9 minutes. That officer, Derek Chauvin, was fired after the incident and arrested several days later following protests and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.
The letter, organizations make “explicit commitments to embrace anti-racism and end white supremacy, not as necessary corollaries to our mission, but as integral to the objective of full equality for LGBTQ people.”
“As we celebrate Pride Month we urge all of our supporters to stand with the protestors and let everyone know, just as the LGBTQ+ community did 51 years ago at the Stonewall Inn, that enough is enough,” the organization said in its announcement.
