Flags, banners and posters provided a colorful juxtaposition to an otherwise overcast day as thousands gathered to proceed through the downtown streets.

By noon on Sept. 8, the Burlington Pride Parade began. Ornately designed floats, spirited drag performers and lively musical groups made their way through the city streets.

The energetic crowd marched down Main Street to Waterfront Park to continue the day with the Pride Festival. Those in attendance were able to buy art from local vendors, indulge in treats from food trucks and chat with many local community organizations. 

The Pride festival is a celebration in many ways, but there are also undertones surrounding the importance of community in supporting and protecting each other. 

Local outreach organizations had a strong presence, with many groups focusing on providing education and raising awareness about medical and mental health services available to those in the community. 

Members of the LGBTQ+ community are more likely to suffer from mental illnesses and substance abuse issues, while also experiencing more barriers to accessing adequate and specialized healthcare, according to the National Coalition for LGBTQ Health. 

Planned Parenthood of Northern New England was in attendance, raising awareness about sexual health and providing free protection methods to promote safer sex practices.

Sade Bolger, a Planned Parenthood representative, listed the services that the organization provides, including STI/STD testing, prescriptions for preventative HIV treatments, hormone therapy, immunizations and birth control.

“​​Planned Parenthood is definitely very proud to stand in solidarity with LGBTQIA folks. [We provide access to] any kind of healthcare they would want to receive from us that we can offer,” Bolger said.

Another organization present, Pathways Vermont, has a goal to expand its reach to raise awareness about the issue of homelessness in the LGBTQ+ community and the greater Burlington area, according to their website. 

Hillary Jeanne, a volunteer with Pathways Vermont, spoke about the organization’s support line, which offers 24/7 intentional peer support to anyone who may need it.  

“From my own circumstances, I wish I had known about this place when there were types of situations that my family just didn’t feel comfortable talking to me about,” said Jeanne.

Other groups were present to offer support in the form of legal guidance, mutual aid and emotional encouragement. The Williston Federated Church displayed their banner while Pastor Paul Eyer discussed the United Church of Christ’s commitment to supporting the LGBTQ+ community.

“Our understanding of the scriptures is that God’s love is expansive. We are called to offer a very extravagant welcome to all, so that’s why we’re here,” Eyer said. 

Many local universities participated, carrying their respective schools’ banners, including students from the University of Vermont, St. Michaels’s College and Champlain College. Alex Martin, the community engagement coordinator for the Prism Center at the University of Vermont, led the school’s group.

The Prism Center offers services including identity-affirming care, a queer and trans library, and a food nook to help address food insecurity on campus, they said. 

“Don’t feel afraid to come by no matter what identities you hold. The staff is here to welcome you with open arms and we’re just so excited to be at Pride to celebrate queer and trans joy and excited to have a presence on UVM’s campus,” Martin said, expressing the theme of this year’s festival: the celebration of queer joy and liberation.

Kell Arbor, the health and wellness director for the Pride Center of Vermont, addressed the crowd with a speech about the concept of joy as it pertains to the LGBTQ+ community.

“Just looking out at you all in this crowd gives me joy. We center joy. We center queer and trans joy. Joy brings us closer to liberation and balances the difficult work of existing in these times,” Arbor said.

Arbor elaborated on the concept of queer joy and its importance in helping to continue the progress made by the community.

“Holding our communal joy allows us to hold the deep multiplicities of our lived experiences. We parade for joy and liberation, for visibility and for the conditions for it to be safe for everyone to be seen in the ways they wish to be seen,” they said.

The festival was organized and facilitated by the Pride Center of Vermont, which is headquartered in Burlington and led by Executive Director Phoebe Zorn.

Zorn emphasized the Pride Center’s commitment to including all LGBTQ+ voices in the organization and reconnecting with the roots of the pride movement.

“Queer and trans people of color, trans and gender non-conforming folks really have been just left out of our movement for so long, even though they were literally the folks who founded our movement. So really, you know, recentering and reconnecting with that,” Zorn said.

Zorn then reiterated Arbor’s words about the importance of Pride in Burlington and all of Vermont. 

“I think it’s so important always and every year with the way things are going in the world, even here in Vermont, you know, it’s more and more important to create these spaces to celebrate joy and also liberation and just come together as a community,” they said.

The Pride Center of Vermont hosts queer health-centered events throughout the year in addition to Pride. Organizers urged attendees to join in, not just in September, but anytime they feel they need the aid of a community.

After a week of festivities and community-building events, the 41st Burlington Pride Festival drew to a close at 5:00 p.m. Sunday afternoon.