PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — “You don’t get a rainbow without some rain” read the slogan on Pride Aroostook’s Facebook page before the start of the Pride Aroostook Festival on Saturday.
Some people within the LGBTQIA2S+ community can feel isolated in their hubs across Aroostook County, but Pride Aroostook shows that people within the community can feel more represented in the Crown of Maine, organizers said.
At the beginning of June, city council chairperson Jacob Shaw read a proclamation in recognition of June as Pride month, which was the first time in Presque Isle’s history. The intersex-inclusive progress pride flag was raised on Saturday morning at Presque Isle City Hall.
“Despite the rain people still came out with the gloomy weather,” said Shawna Traugh, executive committee member for Pride Aroostook. “People are still here to represent Pride and be part of a bigger community of love and joy.”
Pride Aroostook members begin to raise the intersex-inclusive progress pride flag at Presque Isle City Hall on a rainy morning before Pride Aroostook Festival on June 17. (Paul Bagnall | The Star-Herald)
Last week, Pride Aroostook volunteer Meg Hegmann was at the Maine House of Representatives with other Pride Aroostook members where a joint resolution was read in the Maine House of Representatives that said basic fundamental human rights must include people from the LGBTQIA2S+ community.
“People were very surprised that a community in Aroostook County had made this proclamation,” Hegmann said. “I was really proud to share that with people who have left The County to find places in southern Maine where they could be more authentically themselves.”
People from different corners of the LGBTQIA2S+ community celebrate Pride month at the Pride Aroostook Festival at the Riverside Pavilion in Presque Isle on June 17. (Paul Bagnall | The Star-Herald)
All segments that make up the LGBTQIA2S+ had made it to the event and were greeted with horns from people passing by in cars and trucks during their walk down Main Street. Last year, more vendors and community tables showed up with this year’s Pride Aroostook Festival being a bit more condensed in turnout.
Around 32 tents were set up with a mix of local vendors, educational organizations and health care facilities. Some Pride groups like Maine Youth Alliance and Out Maine had tents, along with Aroostook Mental Health Center sexual assault centers, Hope and Justice Project, and food trucks all centered around the band Herding Unicorns in the Riverside Pavilion.
The highlight is knowing that we got several hundred people here and they know the vendors and businesses are safe spaces, said Kate Easter, secretary for Pride Aroostook.
People from different corners of the LGBTQIA2S+ community pose for photos behind the Juneteenth banner during the Pride Aroostook Festival at the Riverside Pavilion in Presque Isle on June 17. (Paul Bagnall | The Star-Herald)
Small town Main Street sometimes isn’t the safest place to be for people in the LGBTQIA2S+ community, but having the ability to walk down Main Street with various pride flags in multiple spectrums of rainbows means a lot to the youth and young adults, including some who might have considered moving, Easter said.
There are places in rural America where people in the LGBTQIA2S+ do not have to move to a big city like Portland or Bangor to feel included in the community. Pride Aroostook has held a few hikes and kayak trips this year to provide a safe space for LGBTQIA2S+ people to get out and enjoy nature.
“Not everybody is a city person and some of us like to live in the country,” Easter said.
Some people came to the event for the first time, Easter said.
“I have met some really amazing people here that have become family to me,” said April Tomah, chairperson for the Maine branch of the Wabanaki 2 Spirit Alliance.
Chairperson of the Wabanaki 2 Spirit Alliance April Tomah (right) comes to Presque Isle to witness the raising of the intersex-inclusive progress pride flag outside of City Hall on June 17. (Paul Bagnall | The Star-Herald)
Pride Aroostook invited Tomah to the Pride Festival and for her to witness the raising of the intersex-inclusive flag. Tomah is also a drag king performer by the name of RezBone and was recently awarded the rainbow award for Bangor Pride that will happen next weekend.
Tomah is trying to get the Wabanaki 2 Spirit Alliance incorporated into a 501(c)3 non-profit with more financial support through grants and sponsorships. She hopes to eventually provide therapy and have doctors available to transgender people.
There are some people in the area of the Wabanaki 2 Spirit Alliance in the area, but are associated with the Canadian branch, Tomah said.
Pride Aroostook plans to ask other municipalities to embrace who they are and fly their flags in their communities too.
Community organizing for Pride Aroostook began at the Boys & Girls Club of the Border towns in Presque Isle in 2018 and has grown into an independent community across Aroostook County, Traugh said.
“We will take the winds where we can get them,” Hegmann said.
