Ithaca readies for first-ever PRIDE Week

June is Pride Month, and to celebrate, Ithaca will be hosting its first-ever PRIDE Week — a weeklong event series focused around highlighting local LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex and asexual) residents and recognizing the progress the LGBTQIA+ community has made over the decades.

From June 26 through July 3, county residents and visitors alike are welcome to enjoy a wide spread of events including live performances from LGBTQIA+ groups; an LGBTQIA+ vendor showcase with food, handcrafted jewelry, art and more; an LGBTQIA+ history walking tour; fashion and drag shows; and HIV testing. On top of that, Cinemapolis will show a documentary about the Stonewall riots, Buffalo Street Books will be offering special deals on books, and the Community School of Music and Arts with host weekend dance parties.

PRIDE Week is organized by the Downtown Ithaca Alliance (DIA) and sponsored by Tompkins Community Bank and Maguire Hyundai Subaru Genesis, with support from numerous community organizations like the Tompkins County Public Library, Buffalo Street Books and more.

While Ithaca has long celebrated Pride Month with events like parades, this year is the first time the city has had a full week dedicated to pride-related events. PRIDE Week organizer Danny Palmer, DIA assistant director of special events, explained that he and others created an event lineup meant to make pride celebrations more inclusive to everyone in the LGBTQIA+ community.

Palmer said he’s had a lot of “mixed feelings” on past pride events due to a history of issues with both substance use and nightlife in the queer community, and he’s not alone in those concerns.

“Everyone wants to celebrate; everyone wants to party,” he said. “And I totally get that — there’s a time and a place for it, [and] there’s a way to do it safely. But for me, it had gotten to the point where a lot of the social events in the community were not events that I really felt able to participate in. And I was hearing that a lot from friends of mine as well, especially friends in recovery or friends with physical disabilities. So, I kind of wanted to approach it from that angle and get a feel of how to better manage that.”

Palmer spoke with students and staff members at county colleges first, since all campuses have some kind of LGBTQIA+ support center, and they shared similar priorities of having a more inclusive spread of events, he said. Others involved in the series’ planning and promotion also shared their support for this focus.

“[What] was really appealing to us is the fact that there are so many family-friendly events at this year’s PRIDE Week,” said Peggy Coleman, vice president of tourism and community relations at the Ithaca/Tompkins County Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB), which is helping promote the event series. “I think a lot of times, people just don’t think about families. And to have activities and events that are, again, accessible to everyone, not just the adults, but [to] be able to come with your family and do hands-on, fun things with your kids, it’s a cool thing.”

Another big focus for PRIDE Week was education, as Palmer and others explained.

“It’s one thing to celebrate, but to truly acknowledge and to truly celebrate and to truly support a community, it’s about more than just a parade,” said Abby Peterson, vice president and marketing communications manager at Tompkins Community Bank. “It’s about making sure that people have access to resources that they might need and that they have equal representation across whether it’s an event or whether it’s different organizations. I think that’s one of the nice things that the DIA, I think, has done has done well in terms of making sure that there’s an educational component.”

One such educational opportunity is a panel being presented by Ashley Dickson, the recovery program coordinator at Tompkins Cortland Community College. Their presentation will focus around how to make those in the queer community feel welcome.

“It’s something that I already offer quite often, usually to organizations in human services fields,” they said. “So, to me, it made sense to offer this to a broader community, as like, ‘Here’s something that everybody should know how to do — how to how to care for, how to interact with specifically young people who are in the queer community in a way that we’re not pushing them away from the services that they need.’ Making them feel welcome in every organization so that they can be successful is so important.”

As much and Palmer and others tried to think big, the pandemic was still a limiting factor in the planning process, with safety concerns making crowded events like a parade out of the question.

“I do work with a disability community, and I certainly reached out and said, ‘What makes you feel safe?’” Palmer said. “And a lot of it was outdoors events because, unfortunately, we’re just not at a point where there’s a particularly safe way to do an indoor event, as we’ve learned from several indoor events in the community where there have been outbreaks of COVID related to those events, despite protective measures happening.”

Even with those constraints, Ithaca still has plenty to look forward to, and those involved are excited for what’s to come. Dickson, for example, said that PRIDE Month is a “celebration” and an “opportunity to show the world how much capacity we have for love,” so they’re glad there’s a full week of events dedicated to just that.

“People need to know that we’re not going anywhere,” they said. “I love that it exists as an annual reminder of real political and social unrest that saw genuine positive outcomes because people spoke up for themselves. And continuing in that vein by offering events that celebrate how different people are feels incredibly important. It just feels like the most important thing we can do on a social level and even on a political level.”

Peterson added that holding PRIDE Week helps show those outside the county how inclusive the county and Ithaca is, which was a big reason why Tompkins Community Bank chose to sponsor the event series.

“Having dedicated, planned events, intentional events, such as PRIDE Week during Pride Month, I think that that really sends a signal to the people that live here, the people who are considering living here, our region in general, that this is a place where we celebrate everyone,” she said. “And even if we’re not perfect, I think we’re striving to make progress. And I think having organizations like the DIA and the other sponsors … really make an official stance, with an official event and really sort of putting time and resources against it, I think, says a lot about our community and about where we’re going and where we’re trying to go.”

Coleman also alluded to the community’s inclusivity, saying it’s something she and other county leaders have been working to build year round.

“You can go throughout the county, and you’ll see nearly 200 of the ‘inclusive’ stickers in businesses and shop windows,” she said. “Inclusivity is an important value for our community. It’s an important value to the Tompkins County tourism program. And it’s an important value to me personally. I think it’s important for people to be able to be who they are, love who they love and not feel threatened or uncomfortable. And so, I love the fact that we do have this this month celebration. But let’s celebrate pride year round and make everyone comfortable.”

For more information on PRIDE Week, including a full schedule of events, visit downtownithaca.com/pride.

Jessica Wickham is the managing editor of Tompkins Weekly. Send stories to them at editorial@VizellaMedia.com.