PARADE QUEEN: Miss Gay New Jersey Lady Victoria Courtez greeted spectators lining the path of the Princeton Pride Parade on Saturday as it headed towards the Princeton YMCA for an after-party featuring an array of speakers and activities. (Photo by Emily Reeves)

By Donald Gilpin

When Elizabeth Bishop wrote “everything was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow!” in her 1946 poem “The Fish,” she may have been envisioning the scene in Princeton on Saturday, when thousands of paraders, spectators, and other celebrants in the first-ever Princeton Pride Parade marched from the Municipal Building, up Witherspoon Street, then over to the YMCA green space, where an after-party featured several speakers, music, a variety of booths, and food trucks.

But the dominant theme was rainbows, with rainbow flags of all sizes; rainbow capes, dresses, shirts, tights, and socks; rainbow mouse ears, antlers, and scarves; rainbow confetti in the air; and rainbow hot pants, earrings, bandanas, and T-shirts. The weather was perfect, with temperatures in the 70s, and the mood was both festive and serious.

“The fact that we had thousands of inspirational folks march with us in solidarity and celebration at Princeton’s inaugural Pride Parade, and that we were joined by many stalwart allies to the LGBTQIA community, including Governor Phil Murphy and First Lady Tammy Murphy, was delightful indeed and speaks to the importance of events such as these,” said Robt Seda-Schreiber, chief activist at the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice (BRCSJ), which organized the event.

In addition to the governor and his wife, dignitaries in attendance included Assemblyman Andrew Zwicker; Princeton Mayor Liz Lempert; Princeton Council members David E. Cohen, Leticia Fraga, Eve Neidergang, Tim Quinn, and Dwaine Williamson; Maplewood Council member Dean Dafis, the first openly gay elected councilperson in Maplewood; 11-year-old community activitist Mani Martinez; Frank Mahood, founder of the original Princeton gay rights group; BRCSJ Community Outreach Coordinator Carol Watchler; Erin Worrell, president of the Philadelphia Freedom Band, which led the parade; Parade Grand Marshall Mike Hot-Pence; Parade Queen Lady Victoria Courtez; and community member Hendricks Davis, who sang an original song to begin the after-party proceedings.

Speakers at the YMCA green space after-party emphasized the themes of LGBTQIA pride, rights, diversity, inclusion, and love.

“To all of you rainbow-wearing, hot-pants-wearing, just-loving people out there,” Zwicker said, “welcome to Princeton’s first and definitely not last Pride Parade.”    

He continued, “If we come together today, no matter how you identify yourself, no matter who you love, we are here to celebrate pride, to work together on a future where we celebrate our differences, we honor our diversity, and we rejoice in the love that makes each one of us so very beautiful. Let’s work together because it is all about love.”

In reflecting on the historic event, Seda-Schreiber looked to the future for the BRCSJ and the LGBTQIA movement. “Now the real work begins,” he said. “The Parade was both literally and figuratively a first step, furthering the Center’s mission to create an exponential safe space both in Princeton and in our greater community, embracing and empowering all. A remembrance of our history that leads us into our future, inspiring all of us to work that much harder for inclusivity and to love each other that much more deeply in our present.” 

In planning for the Parade, Seda-Schreiber emphasized, “The significance and history of this moment is realized both in celebration of this being Princeton’s very first Pride Parade and in recognition and respect to Stonewall 50.”

He expressed his appreciation to the numerous community supporters of the Pride Parade, including businesses, nonprofits, religious leaders, more than 50 BRCSJ volunteers, and the fire, safety, health, and police departments.