[Speaker 6] (0:06 - 0:10)
I'd like to introduce our town administrator, Sean Fitzgerald.

[Speaker 2] (0:12 - 2:37)
Thank you, everybody. All right, so nothing more important than coming together as a community. Five years ago, we celebrated Pride.

We had less than five people at the event. It was in the middle of the pandemic. First time ever we actually had an event that said everybody is infinitely valuable, infinitely worthy to show up here today and to have children here learning about how wonderful it is for people to come together and to believe that you have the right to be free, to make choices about who you love and how you love is the most significant thing that we could be doing here today.

We have to teach everybody that it is our American right to be free and to be here and to be celebrating Pride, celebrating our absolute incredible diversity. For every young citizen here today, you are a rock star. Take this back to your friends and tell them that you are at a Pride event that celebrated the absolute unique diversity and infinite value.

When you think about infinite, what's bigger than infinite? Nothing. And that's how valuable you are, each and every one of you, and that's how we have to treat each other.

That's how we have to continue to see Swampskate celebrate community. With that, I am extremely proud that we have so many people here today. Hello there, so great to see you.

I'm going to introduce our fire chief, Graham Archer. Graham is an absolutely outstanding human. Graham has been our chief for a few years but has worked for our town for over three decades.

He cares deeply about people and he is absolutely one of our most extraordinary assets as a community. So chief, come up here and share a perspective.

[Speaker 5] (2:37 - 5:25)
Thank you everyone, thank you very much. Welcome everyone to Pride Day Swampskate 2024. As Sean said, we've been doing, we've been having this for a few years now.

You may have noticed over the last few years, this town common has been getting more use than it ever has in all the years that I've been associated with the town. And you know, we celebrate a lot of different events here, more thoroughly than we have in the past. And none of them are more important or more joyful than this one.

This is a very special day and it's a favorite of mine and I know it's a favorite day of a lot of your peoples as well. It's a great day for us all to get together. This is how you make a great community even greater.

I'm not gonna, I don't have a long speech prepared for you. We have some outstanding young people that are going to come up here and speak as well. And we have a couple of other speakers also and I don't want to take up too much of your time.

I just think we should all take the time to look around and recognize how important this this day is and what a message it sends of how the residents of this town support each other and accept each other and how important, how we recognize the importance of doing that. Recently, a very small, sad, pathetic man who's in need of love made a very well-publicized speech wherein he called this month an example of a deadly sin. It's hard to express how misguided that type of a sense that sentiment was and if that's if that's how he would like to recognize such a beautiful month as this, then we can only have sympathy for him and I would only ask that we have even more of it.

I'd ask that it's not just a month that we celebrate Pride. I think this month is important for us to focus on Pride, for us to recognize it, but it's something that we should carry through the rest of the entire year. So I just once again like to thank everyone for coming out today and I look forward to celebrating many more Pride days and Pride months with the residents of the town of Swampscott.

I couldn't be happier to see you all here. Thank you.

[Speaker 2] (5:33 - 5:48)
Thank you, Chief. So my privilege to invite up Fern Bedard, one of our Swampscott students. So Fern, come on up here.

Fern's gonna talk a little bit about the history of Pride.

[Speaker 7] (5:51 - 7:23)
Hi, I'd like to thank you all for coming here and I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm Fern. I'm bisexual and polyamorous and I've been living here since I was a little kid.

So I love the community and I'm really happy to be here. So I'm going to be reading a very brief history of Pride. For the millennia that the queer community has existed, we haven't always had the freedom and the rights we do now.

Pride month is the symbol of the hardships that we went through to fight for our right to live and enjoy life just as much as any other person. Starting back in 1969 with the Stonewall Riots, bringing queer issues to light and the queer community began to be more open. Both the gay and trans community worked hand in hand with figures like Marsha P.

Johnson and Sylvia Rivera being key figures. The following year to celebrate the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, queer groups marched through the streets of New York City, creating what we now know as the first Pride Parade. After that, Pride parades spread across the U.S. and the world, creating a sense of community among fellow queer people. As of 2000, June was designated by Bill Clinton to be the national Pride month with it being updated by Obama to be more inclusive with the addition of trans recognition. That brings us to today where we are lucky to have a community that can organize this great of a Pride celebration for our town. I'd like to thank everyone who made this possible and the Swanscott GSA.

Enjoy the sunny day and have some fun.

[Speaker 2] (7:28 - 7:52)
Thank you, Fern. All right, so I'd like to invite up Malora Kolfhoff, another student with a speech on the history of Pride. Malora.

Not a history of Pride, just a speech about something really important.

[Speaker 3] (7:54 - 12:17)
Hi, I'm Malora, if you didn't know, and so I'm a very anxious person and I'm probably gonna stumble through my words, so just bear with me and I hope you enjoy this little speech I have. For as long as I can remember, from movies, books, and the stories told by those around me, there is this inexplicable need to be perfect, a forcing of a mainstream normal and standards. Girls needed to wear dresses and boys couldn't indulge in other hobbies that weren't sports.

A B-plus wasn't good enough and you couldn't exceed people's expectations. In other words, you can't be yourself because it isn't normal or perfect. So to fit into what is normal, good people remake themselves.

They hide behind a smothering mask that proves to be more damning and oppressive than freeing. Why would anyone want to do that? The simple answer is for safety.

Protection against harsh and venomous words. Protection against potential abandonment and lack of love. Yet the ugly truth is that the mask doesn't protect us against anything.

It especially can't protect us from ourselves. It can't protect us from our hateful thoughts and it can't protect us from the constant feeling of discomfort in our own skin for being something different. Something normal.

Perfect. Having worn a mask when I was younger in a wistful attempt to protect myself, I forced myself to be someone else entirely. Someone so different and so oppressing of my values and beliefs that whenever I put that mask in place, all I felt was discomfort and regret.

And to this day, a part of me will always be regretful for suppressing the little girl for so long. A part of me will always regret locking her away and bullying her out of my life. Yet the moment I came to accept myself, with all my uniqueness and quirks, the need to be normal and the expectation to fit that reality vanished.

Now was, by all means, an arduous journey I had to endure. I'd often hit roadblocks and there were days when my anxieties were relentless and all-consuming. In those days, it was easy to quit and revert to the path I was comfortable in.

A path that once again suppressed who I was and the person I wished to be. It was tiring and painful. I felt alone and feared that there would be repercussions if I ever expressed who I was, what I liked, and who I liked.

I can assume that everyone here has felt similar emotions and endured similar experiences. To those people, I offer support and love to you all. Support and love I first experienced secondhand when my older cousin came out to my family.

I always looked after, uh, I always looked up and loved my older cousin growing up. She was brave, kind, funny, everything I wanted to be. When I struggled with accepting myself, it was my older cousin that gave me hope.

Now, while I always knew that my family was loving and supportive, it was hard to shake the kernel of doubt and fear that they would be unable to accept such a huge part of me. I thought I was the only one with this fear, yet the moment my cousin first came out to my family, I knew then and there that I wasn't alone, that even if my family didn't accept her, I always will, just like how I know that she would do the same for me when I worked up the courage to express myself freely. Fortunately, my family was very accepting of my cousin.

I will always feel loved and appreciated for their efforts. I will forever feel grateful for them. My cousin's courage and my family's support propelled me to finally break free from my shell.

It started small with a shy whisper to my sister over a chocolate cake we were baking, then to my parents on Christmas Day with a watch face with pride accessories and emotional hugs, then to my friends over the lunch table at school, and then finally to my other family members, who accepted me just as happily as they did for my cousin. My coming out was liberating and ended happily, yet I know that not all experiences are similar to mine. I offer love, support, and empathy to those whose journey led to loss and feelings of loneliness, to you and to everyone else struggling to accept themselves, their sexuality, their gender.

I dedicate this speech to you. I dedicate this speech to tell you that you are never alone. No matter how isolated you feel, no matter the doubts that plague your mind, you are not alone.

The people here today, celebrating and dressed to express themselves, are proof of that. This diverse and colorful community is your family. They won't abandon you, but instead they'll encourage you to keep being yourself, to keep being the person you love and aspire to be.

While they might not be a family member or a friend, they will pick up the pieces of yourself, just like they did for me, and stick by your side as you heal. I will forever be profusely grateful to this community for helping me, for accepting me with open arms, and for acknowledging the whole of me. I hope that your experience with this lovely community has been all and will be the same, because I want only the best for you and others out there.

I want to be what my family and this community has so graciously been to me, a friend, a guide, and a shoulder to lean on. Thank you so much for lending an ear and allowing me a space to express myself to my heart's content. To those still figuring things out, remember you are not alone.

You are strong, you are loved, and you can be and like whoever you want. Once again, thank you so much for your time, and let's continue being proud. Happy Pride, everyone!

[Speaker 2] (12:24 - 13:09)
Wow, so important. Sorry. That was such an important message to hear.

These events help our community feel loved. We feel loneliness almost, you know, every day. Everybody here feels lonely, but these events help us feel connected, and we need more of these types of events.

With that, I have Tony Leon, somebody that just didn't wear a Hawaiian shirt, but he's got Hawaiian shorts to match. Tony, come on up here.

[Speaker 1] (13:12 - 18:38)
All right, so can I first get everyone to give themselves a round of applause for coming out and celebrating togetherness and community? Let's try that one more time. Come on.

All right, there we go. So this is what Pride Month is all about. My name is Tony.

I use he, him, his pronouns, and I am the Program Director at NAGLI, the North Shore Alliance of LGBTQIA plus Youth, proudly serving youth from ages kindergarten to 23 in well over 45 cities and towns across the greater North Shore and beyond, providing social, emotional, and educational support, along with mental health counseling and support within our center in downtown Salem and out within the communities that we serve at schools and in our satellite sites spread across the North Shore, a safe and brave space for LGBTQIA plus youth and our allies to live and thrive as their true authentic selves. Pride is a time to remind ourselves of why we are able to celebrate these events.

Pride started as a riot and ushered in the LGBTQ rights movement, a riot to fight for acceptance and visibility, to fight for the future. 55 years later and the rights that we have now, it's time to reflect and a time to remind ourselves that we are not in this alone. Now to dive a little into why we exist, a little bit of a trigger warning here for everyone.

In 2024, we are already tracking 550 anti-trans bills under consideration within the U.S., and 25 that have already passed in 2024 alone. It is projected that 1.8 million LGBTQ plus youth ages 13 to 24 seriously think about taking their own life each year. In 2023, 41 percent of roughly 41 percent of LGBTQ plus youth have seriously thought about taking their own life, including roughly, yeah so 41 percent of LGBTQ youth have seriously thought about taking their own life, including roughly half of who identify as transgender and non-binary.

Research states that if LGBTQ plus youth have at least one supportive adult in their life, the suicide rate drops by almost 25 percent. Three or more, it drops by almost 50. Now imagine entire fields of supportive adults.

We still have a lot of work to do as a nation. In Massachusetts, we are fortunate to have rights and responsibilities to protect LGBTQ plus youth within schools and in community-based spaces. Access to gender-affirming care is at our fingertips, although barriers still exist, unfortunately.

Looking back into the hourglass of time, we see that LGBTQ inclusive language and education was recorded in the mid to late 15th century, where indigenous tribes accepted and embraced two-spirit individuals who objected to any deviation of masculinity and femininity. To Shakespeare, using gender-inclusive language in most of his writing, to well over 150 years of social movements dating back to the early 18th century. We have always existed and continue to be unapologetically fabulous.

Now comes to what you can do as community, right, can continue to do as a community. Be a supportive and affirming adult, youth, or family. Whether you represent the community or advocate as an ally, be the loudest voice for change you can be.

To all of the youth and the young adults in the crowd, we are here to listen. Being a youth within this world today can be challenging. Navigating school, to friendships, to relationships, to waking up and embracing the day.

It has changed drastically coming out of the pandemic. Having intersecting identities makes it even more challenging and complex. Maybe we have our own mental health challenges or are faced with supporting others.

Maybe we are part of other marginalized communities and may face hate and ridicule. There are many facets that make up our human self, not just one identity. This doesn't even include the everyday monotony that may impact our minds and our thoughts.

Again, to all the youth and young adults, you are heard, you are valid, and you are important. Continue to live and prosper as your true authentic self. We, all of us here, will continue to support you along this journey.

NAGLI is not able to provide all of our programs and services without the continued support from volunteers, community partners, and safe and supportive adults. More importantly, we would not exist without the support of the community. This is why we call on you to help support our youth, to be a voice for change, and to make a difference, allowing our youth to have a space and community that they can continue to call home.

If you want to learn more about the work that we do and the impact you can make on supporting or continuing to support LGBTQ plus youth, consider checking us out at NAGLI.org or checking out the table underneath the Big Ten. I thank you all and every one of you for showing up, and more importantly, showing out today. Thank you to all the families I see in the crowd, to the supportive adults, to the allies, and especially our youth.

I thank everyone who is involved in planning this event and all the hard work it takes to persevere in a pretty unstable world. Thank you all and enjoy the rest of this spectacular event.

[Speaker 2] (18:40 - 18:54)
Thank you, Tony. At this point, I have the privilege of introducing our state representative, Jenny Armini, for a few words.

[Speaker 4] (19:01 - 23:14)
Happy Pride, Swab Scott! And happy wedding anniversary to all those in our community who are celebrating marriage to their same-sex spouses this year. Because it has been 20 years since Massachusetts became the first state in the United States to license and register same-sex marriages.

I still, still feel with pride when I read the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's decision in the Goodridge case. We declare that barring an individual from the protections, benefits, and obligations of civil marriage solely because that person would marry a person of the same sex violates the Massachusetts Constitution. That is the ultimate mic drop, and it's one that changed the social landscape of this country for the better and forever.

The passing of these 20 years also represents the completion of generational change. There are people here who have not known a world without same-sex marriage. It is an accepted part of our society.

As with a lot of monumental social change, the rough edges of history get smoothed over by the passage of time. Think about it. For those who lived those rough edges, for those who fought so long and so hard for this right, who lived in the shadows, this must be an astounding realization.

They are the heroes of this story, and we can't forget that. We also can't forget the good work that remains. The Goodridge decision continues to shape the landscape of LGBTQ rights across Massachusetts and our country.

It led to a re-examination of how we treat gender differences, which blessedly led to a acceptance of a wider and more inclusive view of what it means to be fully human. Then came the backlash. Sad, angering, predictable.

This year alone, state legislatures across the country have introduced more than 500 bills targeting the LGBTQ plus community. 500. Here in Massachusetts though, our community is young and growing, second only to Vermont as a percentage of the overall population.

But here's the work. These young people are more than twice as likely as their non-LGBTQ plus peers to report depression, helplessness, and nearly half say they've considered suicide. They have higher rates of homelessness and food insecurity, especially among people of color.

So yes, we have work to do, but the LGBTQ plus community and its allies, everyone here, we are ready. We have decades of organizing to fall back on. We have court decisions and a state legislature standing guard.

We have a governor for whom this is personal. We have elders with vast wealth of wisdom and experience, and we have young people fired up and eager to drive change. You might encounter many defeats, but you must never be defeated, ever, said the great poet Maya Angelou.

Here in Massachusetts, we will go on until all of our citizens live and love freely, without fear, and with hearts full of hope. Thank you so much and happy pride.

[Speaker 2] (23:15 - 24:37)
Thank you, Representative Armini. So before we invite up a few members of our select board, I wanted to just recognize Danielle Strauss, our rec director, and our assistant town administrator Pete Kane. They're sitting down here relaxing, but they set up this entire event.

They planned it. They've worked on it over the last few years, and they deserve a whole lot of credit, so thank you. So Swampskate has a select board that governs the town.

We're fortunate to have three of our select board members here today. We have Katie Phelan, we have Danielle Leonard, and we have David Grishman. It's their leadership.

It's their care and concern for having events that help build community that make events like this possible. So select citizens, come on up. All right, so I know Katie was going to say a few words, and Danielle's going to wrap it up for us.

[Speaker 8] (24:39 - 25:29)
I didn't really prepare anything. Thank you all for coming. It's the most wonderful gift we have as parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, to pass down not just acceptance, but empathy, understanding, communication.

Excuse me, this is my communication right here, sorry. It's an amazing privilege we have to teach generations going forward that love is love, no matter what it looks like, no matter who it's with, and it's a privilege that we all have to share with our children. So thank you all for doing that.

Thank you for bringing your families and your parents and your grandparents and helping our community understand that this is what it's all about.

[Speaker 6] (25:39 - 27:13)
Hello, everybody. I first want to congratulate all the participants in today's race. Kudos to you all for running in this hot sun.

It was a nice one. Thank you all for coming together today to celebrate the first day of Pride Month. I too want to thank Danielle Strauss and Jackie Camerlingo, Pete Kane, for putting on such a wonderful event.

She worked so hard. We appreciate you, Danielle. Thank you.

I'm incredibly proud to be standing here as the newest elected member of the Swampscot Select Board, and I'm also incredibly proud to be a member of the LGBTQ plus community. In many towns across our country, we often don't see members of the LGBTQ plus community in elected office, and I for one am proof that that can change, and it is my hope that it does. I consider myself to be very lucky to live in this beautiful town of Swampscot.

I'm grateful to have had myself, my wife, and our two children welcomed into this community, and that is a testament to the residents of this town and to whom we are eternally grateful for that. It's my hope that we will continue to carry the spirit of love, acceptance, and equality beyond today, and continue to champion equality for all in all areas of our town and beyond. Let's continue to work together to make Swampscot a town where everyone feels welcomed, respected, and accepted for who we are.

Again, thank you all for coming, and happy pride.