Springfield Pride Week 6/8-16
PRESS RELEASE: Springfield has been hit hard by the tornado, and we are all working to do all we can to ensure members of our communities get all of what they need over the coming days and months ahead. While the Springfield Pride Committee certainly appreciates that people may not be able to attend this event, or the others, we are most thoughtfully going forward with Springfield’s Pride Week. We are holding all those impacted by the tornado close to our hearts, and many of us are community organizers and we realize the disaster we have just experienced only increases our work for racial, economic and social justice. So, having said this…
The first event of Springfield’s Pride Week begins tonight, Wednesday, June 8th with the film showing of, “Out in the Silence,” and we are so happy to host the filmmaker, Joe Wilson for a discussion after the film. The film is free, all are welcome and it will be shown at STCC, Scibelli Hall, Theater, from 6-8pm.
Out in the Silence captures the remarkable chain of events that unfold when the announcement of filmmaker Joe Wilson’s wedding to another man ignites a firestorm of controversy in his small Pennsylvania hometown. Drawn back by a plea for help from the mother of a gay teen being tormented at school, Wilson’s journey dramatically illustrates the universal challenges of being an outsider in a conservative environment and the transformation that is possible when those who have long been constrained by a traditional code of silence summon the courage to break it.
And, here is the list of all of the Springfield Pride Week events:
• June 8, from 6 to 8 p.m., screening of the film “Out of the Silence” at Springfield Technical Community College, Scibelli Hall Theater at Armory Square;
• June 9, at noon, flag raising ceremony at Springfield City Hall;
• June 9, from 6 to 8 p.m., Town Hall and panel discussion, Springfield Technical Community College, Scibelli Hall Theater;
• June 16, from 7 to 9 p.m., Youth Pride celebration, at Out Now, 32 Hampden St.;
• June 16, at 10 p.m., Pride Week celebration party, Oz Nightclub, 397 Dwight St.
The rainbow flags along Main Street are expected to stay until June 10, when they will be replaced by Jazz Festival banners.
I hope to see you all there!
For peace and justice,
Holly Richardson
outnow@comcast.net