Portsmouth shows pride – Portsmouth Daily Times

Elizabeth Elrod welcoming the crowd to Pride 2023

Joseph Pratt | Portsmouth Daily Times

PORTSMOUTH- AppalAction and Portsmouth Welcoming Community partnered over the weekend to host its Annual Portsmouth Pride event in Tracy Park, which welcomed around 400 plus people of all ages to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community through music, performance, speeches, and more.

According to the group, the acronym stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer, which groups together a minority populous in solidarity, as they work to eradicate prejudice and misconception about their identities.

“Portsmouth Pride 2023 was a success,” co-organizer Justin Delong said. “The pride committee originally planned a Haunted Pride close to Halloween to change things up. However, we recognized the expectation and excitement of our annual event in June and felt it was important to continue that tradition. It is always great to see familiar and mew faces each year to celebrate the diversity in our community. Events like Portsmouth Pride create a safe, welcoming family friendly environment that seeks to share love with all in our community. This year’s event was hosted by AppalAction and was made possible by private donations and in behalf of Portsmouth Welcoming Community-Community of Christ, All Saints Episcopal Church, and a group of anonymous democrats! We would also like to thank On the Esplanade and GIGI’s Kiss of Style Boutique for donating gift cards for our pride basket raffle.”

The pride event has been ongoing since 2018 and has welcomed thousands over its time to march in the parade and gather at the park to listen to music, hear from speakers, and get a glimpse into the local LGBTQ+ community.

“Portsmouth Pride started in 2018 and was expected to be a small event to show visibility in the community. Attendance was beyond expectations and created a space for queer people to come and feel loved and embraced by their community,” DeLong said. “Pride seems to have evolved from a simple gathering and celebration of support to creating a culture of inclusivity within the city itself. People and businesses within the city are beginning to display support during pride month. The city nondiscrimination ordinance was sparked by the pride movement.”

AppalAction, a local group starting a non-profit to serve various causes in the area, co-hosted Portsmouth Pride this year, in collaboration with Bennie Blevins, pastor of Portsmouth Welcoming Community, the local Community of Christ congregation in Portsmouth.

“Portsmouth Pride was created by the local Community of Christ congregation in Portsmouth. One of the Enduring Principles of Community of Christ is the ‘Worth of All Persons.’ Our congregation developed out of that principle to create a safe, welcoming and loving space for worship for queer folks in our community. It was important for us to take that message publicly through the Portsmouth Pride Festival,” DeLong said. “As a Community of Christ minister and member of the queer community, it’s important to me that faith leaders publicly embrace all of God’s children and show them the love they deserve. Throughout scripture we are counseled to love our neighbor. That love comes with no restrictions.”

There were a lot of activities ongoing during the event and DeLong says he was excited to get the ball rolling.

“This year, we had a live band, speakers from different organizations in the community, and local artists sharing their poetry, music and other art,” DeLong explained. “We feel that it is important to create a platform for queer voices to be heard and celebrated.”

Portsmouth Pride has grown over the years and has become something DeLong says he fiercely protects, because of what it means to people who often feel like they have nowhere else to turn.

“We host pride because it is important to ensure that all within our community are valued, loved and supported,” DeLong claimed. “Queer people often face much difficulty as they try to navigate life in their communities. This burden often causes feelings of shame, worthlessness and isolation. We want to honor every queer person in our community and ensure they feel heard and welcomed just as they are.”

The group also announced a new event at Portsmouth Pride this year, which is being called “Something Fierce This Way Comes.” The event will be a Halloween celebration of pride at Spartan Stadium, with music, a light show, costume contests, drag, and more.

“Haunted Pride is something new we are wanting to incorporate into our annual event schedule,” Delong said. “Who doesn’t love Halloween? We want to create an event that allows people to dress up in costume, enjoy the vendors, entertainment and participate in a costume contest. We have several drag performances scheduled, a performance by Mikey Mike and the Big Unit, lots of music, dancing and a light show! It will be a spooktacular event! Haunted Pride will take place on October 21 from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Spartan Stadium!”