Loud and Proud: A Local Uplifting Pride Month (So Far)
Last Thursday, I volunteered to help the Lower Adirondack Pride orchestrate their karaoke night. It was setup at the Wood Theater’s cabaret space with a stage and a television turned toward the stage for song lyrics. I was tasked to search and pull up karaoke lyrical videos for the performers. It was a lot of fun! Lots of people around the community pushed through anxieties and added their name to the list with a song that they wanted to perform.
The event moved swiftly, one song after another, with a drag performer named Stella introducing each participant to the stage. It started with Stella performing Natalie Imbruglia’s cover of “Torn”, followed by Monica’s rendition of “Watermelon Sugar”. Holly then performed “Girl” by 76th Street, noting that there were no karaoke videos available. I was able to find their official lyric video, so she eloquently sung in turn with the musicians instead.
The next few songs spanned the gamut of musical genres from Bob Marley reggae to Katy Perry’s pop songs to Lizzo’s hip-hop. Bryan was the first man on stage, performing “Your Story” from Moulin Rouge, with Jay, Ari, and Morgan bringing the event back to pop songs from Chappell Roan and Kesha. Stella and Monica graced the stage two times; Stella with throwbacks to Journey and Salt-n-Pepa, and Monica with Lady Gaga and Culture Club. My friend, Jules, overcame anxiety by performing “No Souvenirs” by Melissa Etheridge, though I made my first mistake of the night by choosing a karaoke video that did not sync the lyrics with the music well. She sang beautifully regardless, and I was very proud that she took to the stage.
Christian performed two One Direction songs, “Little Things” and “Night Changes”, creating some tears in the audience as we remembered Liam Payne. Liam was one of the musicians in One Direction who tragically passed away last October. The team at the Wood Theater also joined in on stage, with Shelley performing “Summertime Sadness” while Emily sang “Follow Your Arrow”. Erin skillfully performed the rapid fires lyrics from Hamilton, singing “Wait for It”, while Kate brought a church experience to the event with George Michael’s “Faith”.
One of the only duo performances involved Ari and Morgan performing another Chappell Roan song, “Hot to Go”, eliciting an incredible energy into the room. Overall, it was a fun night for everyone to show off their singing abilities and have fun together. Pride Month in Glens Falls, New York has been filled with more uplifting moments, beginning on June 1st in City Park for the third annual Pride Festival.
This year, the Pride Festival was being overlooked by the recently raised Pride flag near City Hall, a feat orchestrated by Lower Adirondack Pride President Cam Cardinale. Cam has been an outspoken queer person in the community for many years; and he is barely 21 years old. I first met him when I moved up to the area when he volunteered his time as an usher for the Wood Theater, though nowadays, his day job (among many things) is a Director of Community Relations at Southern Adirondack Independent Living. As President of Lower Adirondack Pride, he works together with a team volunteers, board members, business owners, and other members of the community to create an amazing festival. This year was the biggest event ever!
I was there, manning a table filled with free books, thanks to community donations for the Friends of Crandall Library. The Friends of Crandall Library is an organization that hosts local book sales to help support our local library, which is very important nowadays with cuts to Federal library funds. Our spring book sale had just taken place during the past two days, so it was lovely to offer books for free to the public. (We had raised almost $6,000, selling over 8,000 books!)
Reading a book is a powerfully simple act of empathy, something that is more important than ever in our tumultuous political landscape. Learning about stories from others that are different than yourself opens up the imagination to other possibilities. I had written a review about a book I found at a local sale last summer called “The Long Run”, which has allowed me to process traumatic moments in high school and imagine a possible future that could have been. Even elatedly finding that the author grew up near my hometown in New Jersey. If you or anyone you know is struggling with their own sexual identity, I highly recommend reading the book. It is a quick read, flows naturally through a year of high school, and will leave the reader with different perspectives on life, as will so many other books. I am proud to help facilitate the sharing of books to the community, along with supporting local bookstores, like Black Walnut Books, Beldame Books, and Just One More Chapter.
Pride month may be halfway over, but the energy that reverberates within this community, as well as the world, is powerful and eternal. As Cam likes to say, we are not going anywhere. This year can be scary, with so many uncertainties and changes in store for America and the world. But remember to keep holding your head high; live to fight disinformation and despair. And keep showing up for your local community where it matters.
