(From our friends at Connecticut Centinal. --Ed.)
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Pride month in Connecticut was certainly full of controversy this year.
The town of Wethersfield declined to fly a "thin blue line flag" to honor an officer killed in the line of duty, and instead lowered the progress pride to half mast.
Similarly, Greenwich First Selectman Fred Camillo declined to fly a commemorative D-Day flag but flew the progress pride flag at half mast on the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
Some towns funded pride events with taxpayer money, either directly from the state through grants or indirectly through non-profits that receive government funding.
Mansfield received an $18,582 Enhancement Grant from the Connecticut Department Of Children & Families to pay for it's "free" pride event which included a drag queen story hour, pronoun pins, a "strut your stuff dance-off" and more.
The expenses for Danbury's "free" pride event were covered by Apex Community Care, which receives funding from the CDC, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration, the Connecticut Department of Public Health, the Connecticut Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services, the Connecticut division of Homeland Security, and the cities of New Haven and Bridgeport.
The Avon Public Library co-sponsored the Town of Avon's Third Annual Pride Block Party. Some of the giveaways for the event were funded through public library accounts, like 31 copies of The Pronoun Book paid out of the library's Summer Reading Account ($139.50) and 63 copies of a children's picture book that celebrates young queer love, "from Archie to Zack" paid from the Unprocessed Book Account ($294.21).
There were plenty of "drag queen story hours" in public libraries and other locations around the state, such as East Hampton and Stamford. But some towns didn't wait for June, and held drag queen story hours much earlier in the year, like Enfield.
Some drag performers seemed to make the rounds, with appearances all around the state.
Like Summer Orlando, who appeared at Danbury pride, Avon Pride, East Hampton drag queen story hour, many corporate drag bingo events, cabaret events, and more.
Orlando probably made out well on these events... especially considering the Avon Library paid him $600 for a two-hour appearance. Orlando had at least 21 events and appearances scheduled for pride month.
Not everyone was happy to see Orlando interacting with children and adolescents, and pointed to old posts on social media with curious hashtags like #synnerswanted and #lapdance.
Politicians certainly welcomed the opportunity to pander to the LGBTQ+ community during pride month.
From the transgender pride flag raising over the state capitol in Hartford to "Pride Day At The Capitol" which included drag performances inside the capitol building with scantily-clad queens, democrats never seemed to miss an opportunity for a photo op. (See photo gallery below.)
Now that pride month is officially over, some conservatives quipped "finally, a chance to escape pride month."
But when one pride month ends, another begins.
"Disability Pride Month" marks the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act by highlighting people with disabilities of all kinds, including the lesser known ones such as "invisible or undiagnosed" disabilities and "neurodivergence".
The Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities kicked off Disability Pride Month by sharing a history lesson about the Disability Pride flag.
The Office of the Connecticut Secretary of the State is celebrating Disability Pride Month by encouraging people to "#FlexYourRights during voting season."
You can also celebrate Disability Pride Month at Southern Connecticut State University's Buley Library, which will be featuring a number of digital resources including the 2006 documentary "Shameless: the ART of Disability" on the library's Films on Demand platform.
