1 RODNEY DAVIS , PRESIDENT OF RHODE ISLAND PRIDE “ For many , Pride is just the celebration , but I always remember my first Pride and how I felt when I found community and the importance of that . Many of us find family and acceptance . However you identify , whoever you may love , this is a space that allows you to be you . And Pride isn ’ t just that third Saturday in June . Pride happens when we go to church , when we go to work , when we are walking in Stop & Shop . That ’ s what Pride is : to be free to be yourself .”
3 JUNE ROSE , PROVIDENCE CITY COUNCIL CHIEF OF STAFF AND THE HIGHEST-RANKING TRANSGENDER STAFFER IN RHODE ISLAND HISTORY “ Pride means coming together as a community to embrace our authentic selves . Pride means to ignore all the ways we ’ re told to be and to choose ourselves and to do it alongside so many other people who are making that same brave choice .”
54 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l JUNE 2024