I don’t know who approved making Pride Month only 30 days long, but I’d like to speak to a manager.
It feels like June started yesterday, and somehow we’ve already reached the point where drag queens are checking their calendars, wondering how they performed in 17 places at once while surviving entirely on iced coffee, glitter and poor decisions.
Pride Month around Delmarva has been packed. We’ve had parades, parties, drag shows, fundraisers, festivals, beach days and enough rainbow merchandise to temporarily convince me I need another tumbler.
One of my favorite things about Pride Month isn’t the parties.
It’s seeing people find their people.
Every year, I meet someone attending their first drag show. Their first Pride event. Their first time feeling comfortable enough to be fully themselves in public. That’s the stuff that sticks with you long after the wigs are packed away and the rainbow decorations disappear from store shelves.
And nowhere is that feeling more visible than here at the beach.
People come to the Cape Region for all kinds of reasons. Some come for the ocean. Some come for the restaurants. Some come because they grew up spending summers here.
And some come because this community has built a reputation as a place where people can show up exactly as they are.
That’s something worth celebrating.
Of course, the celebrations aren’t quite over yet.
If you’re up for a little road trip, Unity Day takes place Saturday in downtown Salisbury, bringing together live entertainment, community organizations, vendors, food, music and plenty of Pride spirit. I’ll be hosting the festivities, joined by local drag performers, special guest Ariel Versace from *RuPaul’s Drag Race* and a few surprises throughout the day.
If you’ve never been to a Pride event before, it’s a great excuse to see what all the glitter is about. If you’ve been to plenty, then you already know the assignment: show up, support your community and remember to hydrate. Every year, I watch at least one person attempt to survive a summer festival using only vibes and a vodka soda. It never ends well.
But here’s the good news for those of us in the Cape Region: Pride season doesn’t end when June does.
Rehoboth Beach Pride is still ahead of us.
The annual celebration returns July 15 – 19, with the festival taking place Saturday, July 18, at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center. The weekend includes performances, community gatherings, workshops, meetups and events throughout the area, bringing together people from across the region to celebrate exactly what makes this community special.
So if your Pride calendar still has a few open spots, don’t worry. Rehoboth looked at the calendar, saw Pride Month ending on June 30 and politely decided to keep the party going.
Because Pride isn’t really about one month.
It’s about creating spaces where people feel welcome all year long.
That might sound a little serious coming from a drag queen who once performed as a giant blueberry, but I contain multitudes.
As June comes to a close, I’m grateful for every person who attended a show, volunteered at an event, supported a local organization or simply showed up for someone who needed a little extra encouragement.
Those moments matter more than any parade, party or rainbow-themed cocktail.
Although, for the record, I remain a strong supporter of rainbow-themed cocktails.
The decorations may come down.
The glitter never does.
Happy Pride, Delmarva.
