Pride Month resonates deeply with individuals across diverse backgrounds, experiences, and roles within the Hudson Valley. From business owners to activists, clergy members to local leaders, the significance of Pride manifests in many ways. For some, it’s a journey of personal courage and authenticity, while for others, it’s a testament to the enduring spirit of resistance and resilience. Join us as we listen to the voices of those who call the region home, each sharing their perspective on how Pride shapes their vision for a more inclusive and empowered future.
What Pride Means to Me
Jay Blotcher, cofounder New Paltz Pride March
I was a cofounder of the Hudson Valley’s first Pride March and Festival, held June 2005 in New Paltz. As hundreds of people paraded down Main Street, I wept with joy. Since then, our LGBTQ+ community has grown exponentially. And several Pride events will happen across the region. This is what social change looks like. But this year, my celebration will be edged in defiance and anger as Republicans escalate their attacks on queer rights in a cynical pursuit of power and votes. Pride this year, more than ever, means fighting back against this hatred.
Davina Thomasula, co-owner Goodnight Kenny and HGTV personality
Pride is the warm feeling I get when I know I’ve done the right thing. Coming out in my teens, it’s been a lifelong journey, often times fiercely having to embrace my identity in a world where acceptance wasn’t always guaranteed. For 30 years, I’ve lived openly and proudly pulling from the courage of my past and present communities. For me, Pride means being genuine, part of my community and an example of how to do this, not perfectly but intentionally.
Pim Zeegers, owner of Citiot in Catskill
To me Pride embodies love, acceptance, education, and celebration. It’s the freedom to embrace your true identity. Be whoever you want to be. It offers the chance to openly express, love, and be truthful. Pride means fearlessly embracing your authentic self, ideally greeted with empathy and encouragement. It’s also about feeling a sense of belonging and connection.
S. J. Williams, co-chair OutHudson Pride Parade and Festival
I have always been an activist for social justice, gender equality and LGBTQIA+ rights. Serving the queer community in Hudson—a city of wildly creative humans, both gay and not—has allowed me ample opportunity to consider what having “pride” means. Merriam-Webster: “a reasonable and justifiable sense of one’s own worth: self-respect.” This definition of Pride sums it up. I encourage everyone to respect, to celebrate, and to take pride this month, and every month.
Samuel Shapiro, owner Camp Kingston
Pride to me is accepting that we are always becoming and always changing. It’s showing up as our most authentic selves and exuding the love we feel about ourselves and our own journey outward into the world to be a little light for the next person discovering how to do the same.
Pastor Jen Boyd, Trinity Lutheran Church, Brewster
In the beginning, God drew us forth from creation and breathed God’s Spirit within us. All are made in the beautiful and diverse image of our Creator. Pride acknowledges how all-encompassing and magnificent is this image. To restrict God to only our own perceptions is to limit how God has chosen to reveal God’s own self. As an ally, I rejoice in this magnificent diversity and celebrate all the ways that God has chosen to reveal themselves through so many different people. Pride is a joyous expression of God themselves!
Danny Freeman, author of Danny Loves Pasta
For me, Pride is about community—honoring our community, fighting for our community, and being there for one another. Pride is an opportunity to see how far we’ve come, while also recognizing we have to continue working until everyone in our community is safe, loved, and liberated. It’s also a chance to come together publicly and be joyous, celebrating our lives and our love in a way that was not always available to those who came before us. Pride is joy, Pride is resistance, and Pride is love.
Melaine Rottkamp, president and CEO, Dutchess Tourism, Inc.
To me, Pride simply means love. When there is a spirit of caring and compassion and welcoming in a place, that’s a place I want to be. When we can create a place where people can relax, be themselves, laugh, gather together and have fun, all our lives will be enriched. It takes love to make that happen and by putting people first, that’s Pride.
Nathan Rapport, founder Dream Brother Gallery
My pride is deeply rooted in togetherness, community, and history. Knowing that my current queer experience is a part of a long lineage of ancestors and elders plays a crucial role in the work that I do. My own art, my curation with Dream Brother Gallery, and my building of physical spaces to gather are all highly influenced by my ongoing desire to connect intergenerational dots and discover mutual desires and narratives within our shared queer storyline.
Richard Heyl de Ortiz, executive director, Hudson Valley LGBTQ+ Center
On a personal level, pride is about standing unapologetically in my truth. On a broader level, pride is about community. When we come together united in pride, our shared strength can create the greatest of collaborations, overcome the most significant challenges, allow us to see beyond our differences and make possible the strong, supportive community that we deserve and need.
Justice McCray, librarian and activist
The way I see it, Pride is all about queer joy. It is about embracing multiple and intersecting identities and letting your movements and choices be guided by love. Pride is a celebration of queer liberation, and while we have so far to go, as queer folk we’ll continue that fight together and sustain each other along the way. As I fight for a better future where we can all feel safe and free, I ground myself through my community—at the weekly drag shows at the Roosevelt, on the roller rink, and in the homes of people who love me unconditionally.
Julie Novak, performer and cofounder of the TMI Project
Pride means celebrating the creativity, resilience, beauty, and bravery of my queer community. Every day we choose to be visible in a world that wants to silence us, and we do it with compassion, empathy, and vibrant style. We are a diverse array of voices amplified, colors burning bright, and hearts wide open. We are hope. We are liberation. We are justice. We are more powerful together. And above all, we know that love is everything.
Charlie Ferrusi, founding board member, OutHudson
Pride is a time to celebrate the gains we have made as a community while recommitting to the challenging and uncertain work that lies ahead. As I reflect on our history of resistance, I am reminded of the political nature and necessity of Pride, especially at the local level. Pride calls on us to uplift every intersection of LGBTQ identity and fight toward our collective liberation. Hudson’s first Pride in 2010 was a crossroads in history, and it continues to be a grassroots celebration, supported and funded entirely by the community. Sustaining Pride moving forward requires us to come together from across generations to support a new generation of diverse leaders.
This article appears in June 2024.
