In its first year, Keene Pride brings a community together

Sep. 19—The Elm City's inaugural LGBTQ Pride festival Sunday was also the first day of a new life for John Dunham and Shawn Bracebridge of Dummerston, Vt., who took their official vows before a sea of impromptu guests in Central Square. They witnessed groom and groom become husband and husband.

It was just one highlight of the afternoon's festivities, which some said was more than 20 years in the making.

"We decided that this was the perfect opportunity to get married in a very public way that makes a social statement," Bracebridge said in an email preceding the festival. "We are feeling excited this week to make this official and legal, though we have been together for so long now, that this almost feels like just a formality."

Keene Pride's first festival ushered in flocks of festival-goers to the city's downtown bearing rainbows, LGBTQ community flags and messages of support for gender and sexual identities all of creeds and colors.

With a proclamation from Keene Mayor George Hansel, who declared Sept. 11-18 as "LGBTQ+ Pride Week," the revelry was underway for all those attending. Several other couples chose to renew their marriage vows following John and Shawn's wedding.

A host of Pride memorabilia and jewelry vendors lined the square along with Keene civic and health organizations and outreach groups for LGBTQ people and their advocates. Live music, street performers and restaurant menu themes also characterized the celebration.

Kylah Lent, of Keene, runs Cozzzy Together and featured her dog bandana crafts near the United Church of Christ of Keene, which was illuminated in rainbow lights along its Central Square façade.

"I love seeing all the love; that's what it really is all about," Lent said. "And we just really love to see people smile, so that's why we [are] out here."

Keene Pride also attracted out-of-state vendors and visitors for the day's events. One was Edmund Cunningham, 20, of Woonsocket, R.I., who only became aware of the first-ever fest close to this weekend through family ties in Keene. Cunningham and his partner were joined by their dog, Buddy, clad in a rainbow outfit.

"My boyfriend is like, 'Ooh they have Pride,'" Cunningham said, noting the two also celebrated earlier this year in the Ocean State and were drawn to the festival for its near-fall scheduling. "Rhode Island Pride is at night and there's lots of drinking. It's more like a party than this which is more like a festival."

Joanne Kenyon, of Chelmsford, Mass., sold crochet crafts, earrings and greeting cards with her daughter under the label Proud Boutique. Business for the mother-daughter duo was steady throughout the festival as she said people were looking for same-sex couple cards.

"It's hard to find Mrs. and Mrs. [cards]," Kenyon said. "We're honored to be here and and we're enjoying the day since the weather's holding out."

Sean Filiault, recently elected as the Democratic nominee for Cheshire District 7 of the N.H. House, was among those long awaiting a Pride festival in his hometown. In an opening to Keene Pride, he referenced the murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay student at the University of Wyoming killed by two men in 1998. It spurred a national discussion on Shepard's death as a possible hate crime because of his sexual orientation.

"At the time I was a teenage boy here in Keene, just coming to realize my sexuality and peeking out of a closet door," Filiault told listeners. "But the Matthew Shepard case was enough to slam that door shut because I didn't want to risk telling anybody about my truth when there was such hate in the world."

Filiault said his political aspirations began to end the gay and trans panic defense, which is still legal in the state after N.H. House Bill 238 was tabled in the 2021 legislative session and a reintroduced bill stalled this year after clearing the state House. The defense "legitimizes and excuses violent and lethal behavior against members of the LGBTQ+ community," according to the American Bar Association.

"On a June afternoon, a friend of mine texted me a picture of my legislator's vote on the gay panic defense and ... he voted to keep [it]," Filiault said. "There's a moment when principle meets reality and your truth emerges. I could either let this sit and allow this person to continue to wield power or I could do something; and I did something about it. I walked down to city hall and I filed to run for office."

Filiault won the Sept. 13 Democratic primary for Cheshire District 7 with 74.9 percent with 409 votes, according to the Associated Press per reporting by Seacoastonline.

Other speakers included Keene State College President Melinda Treadwell; Donovan Fenton, state representative for Cheshire District 8 and Democratic candidate Cheshire District 10; Erika Perez, political director for the N.H. Youth Movement and TV personality Danny Roberts, who starred in "The Real World: New Orleans" in 2000.

Volunteers served as the backbone of Keene Pride's slate of events that began with a panel for older LGBTQ people at the Keene Senior Center last Monday evening and proceeded to the festival Sunday. Andre Yeager, of Keene, said volunteering "... [felt] like doing something."

"This is important to me because for my older kids, [Pride] is so important to them, and also my best friends here," Yeager said. "There's been a variety of ages here ... and every kind of person here. Whatever kind of person you are, it must be good to see somebody you can relate to."

Keene Pride was the culmination of a board of directors who are all Keene stakeholders, led by President Adam Toepfer, a technician and sales associate at Brown Computer Solutions in Keene. The board included Susan MacNeil, the organization's director of communications, a previous executive director of AIDS Services for the Monadnock Region. She said she feels events like Keene Pride are meaningful because they allow people to find common ground even through hard conversations.

"When I got back and read through newspaper articles, it's just stunning how the tenor of this community has changed to become more supportive," MacNeil said of what appeared to be an optimistic reception from the city for the first Keene Pride. "People are just people and we can all love who we love and that's what matters."

And as for the newlyweds of the weekend? Well, they're just people. "We don't have any plans for after the wedding as far as a honeymoon or anything," Shawn said before the festival. "Eventually, we will go somewhere, but probably more spur of the moment, just like this wedding itself has been."

Trisha Nail can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1436, or tnail@keenesentinel.com. Follow her on Twitter at @byTrishaNail.