Mayor Domenic Sarno and other city officials announce Springfield’s first-ever LGBTQ+ Pride Parade, to be held downtown on June 4

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno and other city officials, joined lead organizer, Taurean Bethea, to announce that the city will host its first-ever LGBTQ+ Pride Parade downtown. April 5, 2022.

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno and other city officials, joined lead organizer, Taurean Bethea, to announce that the city will host its first-ever LGBTQ+ Pride Parade downtown. April 5, 2022.

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno and other city officials, joined lead organizer, Taurean Bethea, to announce that the city will host its first-ever LGBTQ+ Pride Parade downtown. April 5, 2022.

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno and other city officials, joined lead organizer, Taurean Bethea, to announce that the city will host its first-ever LGBTQ+ Pride Parade downtown. April 5, 2022.

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno and other city officials, joined lead organizer, Taurean Bethea, to announce that the city will host its first-ever LGBTQ+ Pride Parade downtown. April 5, 2022.

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno and other city officials, joined lead organizer, Taurean Bethea, to announce that the city will host its first-ever LGBTQ+ Pride Parade downtown. April 5, 2022.

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno and other city officials, joined lead organizer, Taurean Bethea, to announce that the city will host its first-ever LGBTQ+ Pride Parade downtown. April 5, 2022.

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno and other city officials, joined lead organizer, Taurean Bethea, to announce that the city will host its first-ever LGBTQ+ Pride Parade downtown. April 5, 2022.

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno and other city officials, joined lead organizer, Taurean Bethea, to announce that the city will host its first-ever LGBTQ+ Pride Parade downtown. April 5, 2022.

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno and other city officials, joined lead organizer, Taurean Bethea, to announce that the city will host its first-ever LGBTQ+ Pride Parade downtown. April 5, 2022.

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno and other city officials, joined lead organizer, Taurean Bethea, to announce that the city will host its first-ever LGBTQ+ Pride Parade downtown. April 5, 2022.

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno and other city officials, joined lead organizer, Taurean Bethea, to announce that the city will host its first-ever LGBTQ+ Pride Parade downtown. April 5, 2022.

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno and other city officials, joined lead organizer, Taurean Bethea, to announce that the city will host its first-ever LGBTQ+ Pride Parade downtown. April 5, 2022.

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno and other city officials, joined lead organizer, Taurean Bethea, to announce that the city will host its first-ever LGBTQ+ Pride Parade downtown. April 5, 2022.

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On Tuesday, Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno and other city officials, joined lead organizer, Taurean Bethea, to announce that the city will host its first-ever LGBTQ+ Pride Parade downtown on June 4.

Here’s a video of the Springfield Pride Parade press conference.

The parade will start at the Springfield Technical College campus at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 4. Attendees, volunteers and organizers will march all the way down to state street, city hall and Central Square.

Bethea said the parade will include live music, games, floats, food from local vendors, giveaways and a block party in front of city hall.

“A good person is a good person, no matter what creed, color, background, sexual orientation, or gender identity.” Mayor Sarno said at the press conference. “As a longtime member of Mayors Against LGBTQ Discrimination, I am proud to stand in solidarity with our LGBTQ+ community”

Dewey’s Jazz Lounge, White Lion, The Ethnic Study, The Hub, Massmutual and MassLive are just a handful of businesses supporting Springfield’s first-ever pride parade.

Any vendors looking to be a part of the parade or any volunteers looking to lend a hand can contact event organizers here.

“Coming out as a gay Black man can be life-threatening,” Bethea said he was conflicted before making his sexual orientation public in 2017. “I was was afraid of losing my identity, like people would think now that I’ve come out, I would be this different person.”

MassLive’s full interview with Taurean Bethea can be viewed here.

The Springfield native said he originally had no intentions of organizing a pride parade when he first came out to the public, his focus quickly shifted after seeing how LGBTQ+ people were treated in Springfield and other cities.

“We wanted to do something bigger, we wanted to develop a presence of the LGBTQ+ community here in Springfield,” Bethea said. “So we put things together and launched the organization, our nonprofit, which supports youth of the LGBTQ+ community.”

In collaboration with the city’s Diversity and Inclusion office as well as the Department of Health and Human Service, Bethea wants the Springfield Pride Parde to provide a safe space for the city’s LGBTQ+ community.

“Whether it’s hate crimes, domestic disputes, things of that nature, we’re beginning to develop more plans and more resources to offer to the community,” said Bethea.

In February, the Springfield Pride Parade launched the Safe Space initiative, a commitment from local businesses to disavow hate speech, hateful actions or aggressions that target the LGBTQ+ community in their establishments.

Local businesses that are part of the Safe Space initiative are marked by a public-facing decal that affirms that their business is a safe space.

Safe Space sign outside of Deweys.

Dewey’s Lounge, TD Bank, Focus Springfield, White Lion and the Ethnic Study have all signed on to the initiative.

More information and updates about the Springfield Pride Parade can be found here.

The pandemic caused the cancellation of multiple pride parades in Massachusetts

Northampton’s Pride Parade festival — which typically sees 40,000+ attendees — is currently postponed due to the ongoing difficulty of hosting the event while observing safe mask practices and social distancing.

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