Schuylkill Pride of 2022 brought joy and laughter, but highlighted judgment and criticism.

Matt Haslam is the Eastern vice president at Pennsylvania Equality Project and the founder of Powered by Rainbows, a site that provides researched LGBTQ classes and videos on a weekly basis to their 6.7 million viewers worldwide.

“If all people see are the good parts of pride and that we are out and about, there will be those that think we have total equality and then never see the bad side about why we need to celebrate pride,” he said.

After being involved with Schuylkill Pride (formerly known as Pottsville Pride) for the entirety of its existence the last three years, Haslam realized the gravity of the event taking place in the area after recalling that his own gay uncle, Jeffrey Blake, had to move away from Pottsville around 1964 due to the lack of acceptance of his own father and his community.

Despite being a U.S. Navy member who served in the Vietnam War right out of high school, Blake never found safety in his childhood town and ended up moving to California to be in more accepting areas.

Haslam said in honor of his uncle who died four months before he was born, he does television to help educate people that didn’t have this education in 1946 or even the 1990s.

“I realized saying ‘I am gay’ especially at a microphone or on a TV show is something he could never do (because) it wasn’t made legal to be gay until 2003 in the United States … you could be arrested before then.”

Pastor Sharon Stokes of Stokes Ministry, who isn’t originally from the area, had also noticed the need for pride in Schuylkill County.

“My heart breaks every time I hear another coming out story because it’s never a good one in the coal region,” Stokes said. “There’s never been a kid who has said their parents loved them anyway. Parents want to send their kids away to fix them, but they’re not broken.”

She said, “If Jesus came back today, they’d crucify him again because he’d still be hanging out with the prostitutes, drug addicts and the poor - those were his people. He loved everyone.”

As a local lesbian pastor based out of Tamaqua, she says she does not take a salary for the ability to help people in the area and give back to families in need. “The reason we are here is to love and help one another,” Stokes explained.

“Life is hard enough for teenagers with hormones, school and bullying. … I want them to know they are loved, people want you here, and they’ve just begun writing their chapters.”

Drag performer John Oates, or Andronica Glitoris, performed a song called “Crazy Times” by Illenium at Schuylkill Pride to shine light on suicide as a real issue in the LGBTQ community.

Oates said he thinks society should drop the stigma and taboo surrounding mental health, depression and suicide. He said sometimes at the pride events, entertainers will want to perform the fun numbers but then an opportunity is wasted.

“I don’t need a physical title (of Mr./Miss Pride), crown or sash. The kids are the crown that inspires me. Pride is the sash that drapes my shoulders. The title is me being happy in my own skin,” he said.

Kathy Laughlan Benyak of North Manheim Township attended the event over the weekend and said when Andronica performed that song, everyone gathered around in a circle, arm-in-arm.

“You could tell not all of these people were friends, but still they gathered arm-in-arm, swaying to the music … everyone together, and not feeling alone,” she said.

The best thing she saw at the event, she said, was the parents bringing their young teenagers who are becoming aware of their sexuality. Parents supporting their children no matter what, she said, was the best part of it all.