Well over 1,000 people marched down Alvarado Street in downtown Monterey for the Monterey Peninsula Pride parade on Saturday, June 28. The celebration of LGBTQ+ individuals culminated with festivities, vendors and speeches given in Monterey’s Custom House Plaza after the parade.
The speeches began with a cheer led by the master of ceremonies shouting, “We’re here, we’re queer, we hold each other dear!” three times.
Following a prayer and apology for the way Christian teachings may have harmed the LGBTQ+ community and individuals by St. James Episcopal Church Reverend Jen Crompton, Monterey Peninsula Pride board members followed with a land acknowledgement and remarks stressing the importance of visibility.
“We are talking about presence, about claiming space, about celebrating our identities in a place where queer and trans people haven’t always been welcomed or seen,” said board member Melissa Lewis.
Lewis also stated the importance of a historic milestone taken by the City of Monterey’s decision to install the city’s first-ever rainbow crosswalk. Cheers erupted as she called it a powerful symbol of inclusion and a visible daily reminder to residents and visitors that LGBTQ+ people are present and that they belong.
The parade was grand marshaled by Glodean Champion and Paul Richmond. Champion shared her enthusiasm with the crowd calling the day extra special since it would be her last Monterey Pride, citing plans to move to Chicago in October.
Champion reminded the crowd that her mission and business is rooted in L.O.V.E., standing for “listen, not to respond but to understand; open-mindedly, without assumptions; with vulnerability because courage isn’t pretending you have it all together; and with empathy because if you’ve ever felt pain you can choose to never be the source of someone else’s.”
She believes that love can heal isolation, injustice and fear, and she was quick to remind the crowd that fear is present everywhere right now.
“Something dangerous is happening in this country. We’re being divided,” Champion said. "We’re told that our differences are a threat, rather than a gift.”
She offered a message of hope after that acknowledgement, stating, “Fear didn’t build this world. Love did.”
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