Hometown Pride: Acton expands its LGBTQIA+ celebration
Pride returned to Acton with a tighter schedule and a more festival-like atmosphere.
Maggie Stewart stood in Monument Square with a “Protect Trans Kids” sign, beaming as people filtered through Acton Center on June 7.
The Emerson College student missed the 2024 ConcordPride event but chose to celebrate in her hometown this year.
“Boston Pride is amazing, but it’s so big,” she said, “whereas this, I see people I know. I’m with my church. It’s just different.”
She and many more, adorned in rainbow flags, face paint, and bright colors, marched to Monument Square, watched as a Pride flag was raised, and listened to speeches extolling the local celebration.
“Last year was the first time, so it was much more like, ‘Can we do that? Will we get permission?’” Joe Palumbo, a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Commission member and ConcordPride organizer, told The Acton Bridge.
“This year already feels different.”
Cultivating a tradition
Pride returned to Acton with a tighter schedule and a more festival-like atmosphere that featured multiple events and attractions, including a new beer garden.
Having moved past some initial hesitance last year about raising a Pride flag in Monument Square, Palumbo said, “Now we’re trying to make it a habit. Anytime you do something three times, it becomes tradition.”
Organizers hope that’s where things are headed: toward a permanent place for Pride in one of the state’s most historic towns. Palumbo hopes future events will include even more art and performance — and maybe a drag show.
[See the full gallery of photos here.]
An embrace from clergy
Families filtered from the rally in Monument Square to activities lined up across town. At the Acton Free Public Library, people lined up for free ice cream and decorated the sidewalk with colorful tape.
Stewart stood on Main Street with Rev. Martha Schick, associate minister of Trinitarian Congregational Church, which Stewart grew up attending.
As both a queer person and a member of the clergy, Schick said it was essential for her church to be a visible part of ConcordPride: “Now more than ever, it’s vital to show that queer people are beloved by God,” Schick, who wore a stole adorned with rainbows, told The Bridge.
Schick echoed what organizers hope to achieve: establishing Pride as a tradition that supports and uplifts the community for years to come — and draws today’s kids today back as grown-ups for future celebrations.
“We as adults in the community, we as the wider Pride community, need to be there for these kids,” Schick said. “We need to show that there are adults who love them, adults who will be there through legislation, through hatred, and that we will be there supporting them.”
