By MAUREEN DOHERTY

NORTH READING — In advance of the town’s fourth annual North Reading Pride Ride, to be held this Sunday, June 23 at Ipswich River Park, the Select Board issued a proclamation declaring June to be LGBTQI+ Pride Month.

After board Chairman Vincenzo Stuto read the proclamation on Monday night, he and members Rich Wallner, Liane Gonzalez and Nick Masse voted in favor of it. Board member Stephen O’Leary was out of town at a family event.

However, getting to the 4-0 vote was not without controversy.

Select Board member Rich Wallner opened the discussion by stating: “We are reaching out to the people who feel alone. That is what this is really about, especially kids who are in high school or in college. They are young, they’re just getting started.”

Wallner added, “If you want to be in the parade just get there around 11 a.m. and the parade is 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. Please come out.”

While Gonzalez favored the proclamation because she wants to be supportive of the LGBTQI+ community and the parade, she questioned the appropriateness of the post-parade entertainment including three drag queens in a public park.

“I have wrestled with this for a couple of weeks now. When this proclamation was originally three years ago brought forward I voted no on the basis that the veterans did not have a month,” she said.

The Select Board subsequently declared the next November to be “Veterans Month” therefore when the next Pride Month proclamation was proposed the following year, she recalled, “I voted yes happily. Enjoy it and have a great time.”

But after the 2023 Pride Ride, when the follow up reports given by two board members mentioned that the festivities had included a drag queen dancing in the gazebo at IRP, Gonzalez recalled: “I had an issue with that. The issue I had with that is not the drag queen; it’s adult entertainment. I’ve been to the shows… It is a choice people make and I don’t believe it belongs in a public park where there are families and children who may not want to be exposed to that. I don’t think it’s an appropriate place for it. And this year I saw that now there are three drag queens that will be dancing in the gazebo. I have a real issue with the time and place. There are other options,” she said, adding that some families at the park that day “may be sideswiped not expecting to have that conversation.”

Gonzalez said she ultimately had decided to vote in favor of the proclamation by separating her support for the LGBTQI+ community from this specific choice of entertainment at the post-parade event.

“The community shouldn’t be punished for a bad decision someone else is making, so I will support the proclamation but I needed to speak out about the drag queen show in the public park during the event,” she said.

Select Board member Nick Masse said, ““I sort of agree with Mrs. Gonzalez.”

Stuto, who attended B.U. which had a huge and diverse student body, said, “Where I grew up and went to college you really didn’t think about it because you had friends of all persuasions… But I agree that we should separate it because we need to support this community; however, there is appropriateness and not just for that, but in general. You say ‘time and place,’ I’ll say that I know that there’s a lot of people who support this and want to be part of it who are not going for that one reason. It is a shame.”

“I just remind everyone that no matter what you are doing in North Reading if you even have to question it for a second it is probably not appropriate. That is how I learned. If you are going to question taking that left onto North Street from Central you probably shouldn’t do it,” Stuto said. “But I am in support of (the proclamation) because everyone understands that these other things going on is not the message. It is much bigger than whatever is going to happen somewhere, whether or not it be appropriate.”

THE PROCLAMATION

The Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Intersex Plus (LGBTQI+) Pride Month Proclamation adopted by the Select Board for 2024 reads as follows:

“Whereas: we recognize June as Pride Month throughout the United States and the world, we are reminded of what makes our community great – our remarkable capacity to accept and embrace the lives of others, regardless of our differences. In this regard, we stand together with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer, intersex plus (LGBTQI+) community as they declare their pride in who they are and whom they love.

The LGBTQI+ community has worked tirelessly for respect, equality and their very right to exist. While there has been remarkable progress towards acceptance and equality in recent years, members of the LGBTQI+ community still face an unacceptable level of discrimination. We must push back against those who threaten LGBTQI+ people, and we must continue to make the case that all human beings share something fundamental in common – all of us want to love and be loved.

Therefore, be it resolved; we are proud to support our LGBTQI+ community’s right to live their lives out loud. As we celebrate Pride, we must continue to demand equal rights for all.

Therefore, be it further resolved; the Select Board Members do hereby proclaim June to be Pride Month for the LGBTQI+ community in North Reading,

And therefore, be it further resolved; we encourage all residents to celebrate our proud and diverse LGBTQI+ community through a parade, decorations, and moral support that reflects well on our town in support of our LGBTQI+ neighbors; and we recognize LGBTQI+ residents whose influential and lasting contributions to our neighborhoods have made North Reading a vibrant community in which to live, work and play.”