>> THIS SATURDAY MARKS THE 34th OBSERVANCE OF NOHO PRIDE
DAY.
LOOKING AT THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE LESBIAN GAY BISEXUAL
TRANSGENDER.
J.M.
SORRELL JOIN US TO TALK ABOUT WHAT'S PLANNED AND WHAT
THE EVENT HAS COME TO MEAN FOR PARTICIPANTS.
>> IT REALLY DOES START VERY EARLY WITH EVERYONE GETTING
LINED UP, AND THE EXCITEMENT STARTS AT 10:30 IN THE MORNING
WHEN EVERYONE GETS LINED UP FOR THE PARADE AND THE VENDORS COME
INTO THE FAIRGROUNDS TO SET UP, AND FROM NOON UNTIL 5:30, IT IS
NONSTOP, AND PEOPLE ARE HAPPY AND HAVING FUN ALL DAY LONG.
IT'S A GREAT, A GREAT DAY.
>> AND TALK A BIT ABOUT, I MEAN, IN THE FINAL DAYS AND WEEKS
BEFORE, THE PLANNING REALLY, I THINK, STARTS PROBABLY ABOUT
6:00 ON THE NIGHT THAT THE PREVIOUS YEAR'S EVENTS END, AND
IT NEVER ENDS.
IT'S A LOT OF WORK.
TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF PLANNING AND LOGISTICS.
>> IT IS.
IT GETS EASIER YEAR AFTER YEAR.
BUT, I THINK THAT EVERY YEAR, MORE IS ADDED.
EVERY YEAR, IT COST MORE.
EVERY YEAR, NEW THINGS HAPPEN.
WE BUY NEW EQUIPMENT.
WE TRITE MAKE IT SAFER AND KINDER FOR EVERYONE TO COME.
BUT, IT'S CERTAINLY A LABOR OF LOVE FOR THE PEOPLE WHO DO IT.
>> LET ME TALK ABOUT THIS EVENT, KIND OF IN THE MACRO, BECAUSE IT
IS A REGIONAL EVENT, REALLY, AND MORE THAN THAT, BECAUSE PEOPLE
COME FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, AND I THINK THAT YOU HAVE SOME
INTERNATIONAL VISITORS, USUALLY, AS WELL.
BUT, I KNOW THE NUMBER THAT USUALLY I SEE CITED IS 20,000
VISITORS OR SO TO NORTHAMPTON FOR THE DAY.
THAT'S A BIG IMPACT.
THAT'S A LOT OF HOTEL ROOMS BOOKED, AND THAT'S A LOT OF
RESTAURANT MEALS PURCHASED.
AND THIS IS A, ASIDE FROM ANYTHING ELSE, THIS IS THE BIG
EVENT, BRINGING PEOPLE TO OUR AREA.
>> ABSOLUTELY.
I HAVE A FRIEND WHO CALLS IT OUR FOURTH OF JULY PARADE BECAUSE
EVERYBODY COMES OUT.
AND AS YOU SAID, JIM, PEOPLE COME FROM -- THEY COME FROM UP
STATE NEW YORK, PEOPLE COME FROM THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN PART OF
THE STATE.
FROM THE NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND STATES, AND EVEN NEW YORK, AND
YES, PERHAPS, SOME INTERNATIONAL VISITORS, AS WELL.
IT DOES NOT HURT THE ECONOMY OF NORTHAMPTON FOR THE DAY OR THE
WEEKEND OR EVEN THE WEEK.
AND IT'S A WONDERFUL COMING TO GO OF SO MANY REALLY DIFFERENT,
DIVERSE GROUPS.
YOU JUST FEEL THE ENERGY THAT ON THAT DAY, WE'RE ALL IN IT
TOGETHER.
>> I KNOW THAT THIS YEAR'S THEME, AND I WANT TO ASK YOU TO
EXPOUND ON THAT, BOTH OF YOU, FEEL FREE.
WE CONTINUE TO FIGHT FOR ALL OF OUR RIGHTS.
>> YES, AND AS YOU KNOW, JIM, WE LIVE IN A FAIRLY PRIVILEGED AREA
IN TERMS OF THE PROGRESSIVE POLITICS.
FEMINIST POLITICS, CERTAINLY, LGBT RIGHTS.
WE ARE BOTH EXTREMELY APPRECIATIVE.
WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THAT BEFORE WE CAME TO THIS SEGMENT,
AND WE DON'T TAKE IT FOR GRANTED IN THE LEAST.
THERE ARE STILL THINGS HAPPENING IN THE COUNTRY THAT ARE JUST
DISTURBING. 15 STATES HAVE FILED A FRIEND OF
THE COURT BRIEF THAT IF THE SUPREME COURT ON APRIL 28 SAYS
THAT WE SHOULD HAVE MARRIAGE EQUALITY, AS A CIVIL RIGHT, IT
WILL BRING INCALCABLE DAMAGE TO CIVIC LIFE, SO WE ARE STILL
DESCRIBED IN THAT WAY. 80 COUNTRIES STILL HAVE IT --
IT'S ILLEGAL TO BE GAY.
AND YOU CAN BE IMPRISONED, AND IN SOME PLACES, EXECUTED, FOR
EITHER BEING GAY OR LESBIAN OR BEING PER SUCCEED TO BE THAT
WAY.
WE STILL HAVE 28 STATES IN THIS COUNTRY WHERE YOU ARE NOT
PROTECTED, JOB OR HOUSING-WISE, BASED ON SEXUAL OH, IN 38
STATES, BASED ON GENDER IDENTITY.
SO, WE FEEL IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE SUPPORT THE PEOPLE WHO ARE
STILL STRUGGLING, THAT WE ARE IN IT TOGETHER, AND WE CERTAINLY
CELEBRATE THAT, NO QUESTION ABOUT IT.
WE HAVE A LOT TO CELEBRATE, A LOT TO BE GRATEFUL FOR, BUT WE
STILL HAVE A WAYS TO GO.
>> LET ME ASK YOU THIS, COMMENT ON THAT, AS WELL, BECAUSE AS
J.M.
SAYS, IT IS A DAY FOR CELEBRATION AND FUN, BUT NOBODY
EVER FORGETS ALL OF THE DIFFICULTIES THAT REMAIN, ALL OF
THE BARRIERS THAT REMAIN.
THAT IS ALWAYS PART OF WHAT'S GOING ON, A MIDST THE FUN AND
CELEBRATION.
>> RIGHT, FOR 34 YEARS, IT ALWAYS HASN'T BEEN A
CELEBRATION.
WE STARTED WITH BAGS OVER THEIR HEADS WHEN THEY FIRST MARCHED.
TO HAVING A MILITANT TYPE OF PARADE, AND RALLY, AND NOW, IT'S
MORE LIKE OUR AREA IS ACCEPTING, AND WE CELEBRATE, BUT WE ALSO
KNOW THAT WE'RE SPECIAL IN THIS AREA.
WE HAVE -- WE HAVE SOMETHING THAT A LOT OF PLACES DON'T.
SO, WE DO TRY TO ENJOY IT, AS WELL AS KEEP IT IN OUR MINDS AND
OUR HEARTS THAT WE HAVE TO TRY, FOR OTHER PLACES.
>> AFTER THE PARADE THROUGH THE HEART OF NORTHAMPTON CENTER,
DOWNTOWN, EVERYBODY GOES TO THE THREE COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS, AND
THERE ARE PERFORMANCES.
SPEECHES.
EVENTS.
YOU HAVE GOT SOME GREAT GROUPS OF NATIONALLY KNOWN ARTISTS FROM
NEW JERSEY, WHOSE NAME IS KRISTINE, AND YOU HAVE GOT
PIONEER VALLEY GAY MEN'S CHORUS, AND THEY ARE SO GOOD, AND THE
REGION GRANNIES, I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE WILL COME TO SEE THE
RAGING GRANNIES.
YOU HAVE GOT QUITE A DATE.
>> THE RAGING GRANNIES ARE GREAT.
THEY ARE OLDER WOMEN IN OUR COMMUNITY, WHO SING SONGS ABOUT
JUSTICE, AND PROTEST, AND THEY ARE GREAT.
WE HAVE THEM ABOUT EVERY OTHER YEAR.
COME BECAUSE THEY ARE LOVELY TO HAVE.
WE HAVE A GREAT PIANIST THAT'S GOING TO BE THERE, AS WELL AS A
ROCK BAND CALLED GIRLS ON GIRLS, AND WHICH I AM LOOKING FORWARD
TO HAVING.
SO, IT'S GOING TO BE A GREAT DAY, I THINK.
>> WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BOTH OF YOU TO SEE HOW THIS HAS GROWN
AND THE TIMES HAVE CHANGED, AND THE PEOPLE ALONG THE STREET
WATCHING THE PARADE HAVE CHANGED, AS WELL.
IT'S BEEN QUITE A TRANSITION IN 3.5 DECADES.
>> LET ME JUMP IN FIRST THERE.
WHEN WE USED TO MARCH FROM THE BRIDGE TO THE CEMETERY TO THE
PARK, ALONG MAIN STREET, THERE WERE A COUPLE HUNDRED PEOPLE,
MAYBE 1,000.
IN THE EARLY DAYS.
YOU WOULD NOT SEE PEOPLE LINED UP ALONG THE STREETS AT ALL.
WE HAVE VERY FEW ALLIES.
WE HAD A COUPLE OF FOUNDERS THAT WE ALL SORT OF TREATED AS OUR
PARENTS.
AND I REMEMBER THE RESTAURANT AT THE TIME, THE WAIT STAFF WOULD
COME OUT AND CLAP FOR US, AND WE WOULD BE IN TEARS BECAUSE THEY
WERE THE ONLY BUSINESS DOING THAT AT THE TIME IN THE EARLY
1980s, IN THE 1980s, AND WE ALSO LOOKED OUT FOR, IN FRONT OF
CITY HALL, THERE WAS SOME MORE FUNDAMENTALIST FACTION AND IS
CHURCHES WITH SOME SIGNS THAT WERE, FRANKLY, UGLY.
AND HATEFUL DIRECTED AT US.
WE HAD PEACEKEEPERS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE, YOU KNOW, KEPT THE
DISTANCE BETWEEN THE PROTESTERS AND THE MARCHERS, SO IT WAS A
COMPLETELY DIFFERENT DAY THAN IT IS NOW, AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT
YOU WOULD LIKE TO SAY.
>> WELL, I THINK THAT FROM EVEN THE TIME THAT I STARTED WITH
PRIDE, IT WAS A FEW HUNDRED, ON MAIN STREET, TO NOW THOUSANDS
LINING FROM THE BEGINNING OF MAIN STREET ALL THE WAY DOWN TO
THE FAIRGROUNDS.
ALL ALONG THE SIDES OF THE ROAD.
TO LOOK DOWN FROM THE FAIRGROUNDS BACK TOWARDS THE
CITY CENTER, IS AMAZING.
AND NOT JUST FOR THE PARADE.
BUT FOR EVERYONE ON THE SIDES.
IT'S ASTOUNDING THE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE.
>> AND THE ALLIES, I THINK, ALMOST MATCH THE LGBT COMMUNITY.
THAT USED TO BE THE ANOMALY.
AND I'VE BEEN DOING THIS FOR A VERY LONG TIME, AND I AM VERY
CHOKED UP WHEN I SEE HOW MANY ADDITIONAL ALLIES ARE COMING,
CHURCH GROUPS, SPIRITUAL COMMUNITIES AND HIGH SCHOOL
GROUPS, ETC., YEAR AFTER YEAR AFTER YEAR.
I THINK THAT PEOPLE LIKE TO WATCH IT SO THEY ARE ALLOWING
THE SIDELINES ON MAIN STREET, BUT THEY JOIN.
THEY WANT TO SEE THE BEGINNING.
IT'S HARD TO KNOW IF THERE ARE MORE PEOPLE, I THINK, ALONG THE
SIDES THAN MARCHING.
IT'S JUST JAM PACKED.
IT'S GREAT.
>> WELL, UNFORTUNATELY, WE'RE OUT OF TIME, BUT THE BIG DAY IS
COMING UP.
MAY 2, AND LET'S ALL, FINGERS CROSSED FOR GREAT WEATHER, AND
WE THANK YOU BOTH FOR COMING IN AND TELLING US WHAT TO WAIT FOR
ON MAY 2.
>> THANK YOU.