Gay pride parade called a success

Organizers of Bangor’s first gay-and-lesbian pride parade pronounced the weekend event a success despite some jeering by bystanders.

One planner, Melanie Noyes of Bangor, estimated that 150 to 200 people participated in the event, which took marchers through the streets of downtown Bangor to Davenport Park. There, food and craft booths were set up and speakers took the stage, including state Sen. Dale McCormick, D-Monmouth, an avowed lesbian.

“I considered it a big success,” said Jim Martin of Bangor, another organizer. “The energy level of the community increased (as a result of it).”

Noyes, Martin and Sarah Lowden, all seniors at the University of Maine studying social work, had to develop an advocacy project as part of a class. The parade was the outgrowth of that class.

Although Bangor’s gay community annually marks the death of Charles O. Howard, who died after being thrown into Kenduskeag Stream by three youths, Noyes said that was a solemn event. She and her fellow students wanted a more positive observance.

“We just wanted to have a forum for celebration,” she said. Straight couples receive social “affirmation” through such notices as marriage announcements in newspapers, she said, but “we don’t get that except in our own community.”

Participants, she said, came not only from the larger cities in the state but also from towns such as Jonesport and Greenville.

Along the parade route, marchers faced jeers from some onlookers, including a postal letter carrier in a mail truck.

Noyes acknowledged those incidents, “but for the most part I think we tried to ignore that.”

“They have their freedom of speech as well,” said Martin, adding that it was expected and that homosexuals have “adapted” to such occurrences.

One marcher reportedly sought to engage some spectators in argument, as well. Members of a church group held up protest signs along the route, but Noyes said they didn’t interfere with the demonstrators and caused no problems.

Noyes, James Martin and Sarah Lowden planned the event, sending letters to gay-lesbian organizations and to “mainstream” groups. She said the project received much support from the mainstream, but said she learned from mistakes made in fund raising.

Perhaps her greatest lesson came from hearing many decline to participate for fear that they would be seen on the evening news and that their bosses or families would find out.

“I also learned that there’s a tremendous amount of fear within my own community,” she said.