Current

Pride ’ s back , baby ! After being sidelined for two years , the Rhode Island PrideFest and Illuminated Night Parade returns to Providence on Saturday , June 18 . The forty-sixth annual celebration begins at noon along South Water Street , with a main stage packed full of performances and more than 250 vendors , organizers and exhibitors taking part in an LGBTQIA + marketplace and community resource hub . Later that night , the nighttime illuminated parade — the only one of its kind in New England — will shimmy its way through the city streets . Rhode Island ’ s Pride celebration has its roots in June 1976 , when seventy-five people — the “ seventy-sixers ” — took to the streets of Providence chanting “ Gay , straight , Black , white , same struggle , same fight ” after first being denied a permit to assemble . The group sued , and a federal court ruled the group had a First Amendment right to march . PrideFest now draws more than 100,000 people and is considered one of the city ’ s banner summertime events . “ Pride is such a great thing , but it takes a lot of hard work and dedication ,” says Rodney Davis , president of Rhode Island Pride . “ We ’ re all volunteers doing this . This is done out of love , and our movement is all about love , who we love and loving ourselves .” Rhode Island PrideFest and Illuminated Night Parade , June 18 , noon , prideri . org — DANA LAVERTY

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF RHODE ISLAND PRIDE / RODNEY DAVIS , RI PRIDE PRESIDENT .

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