To celebrate Pride Month this June, Be The Rainbow Inc. has put together an oral history exhibit at the library and is hosting its annual Chalk the Walk and Pride Walk and Festival.
Be The Rainbow Inc. is a Port Washington-based group of queer parents and allies that promote the celebration of self-affirmation, equality and visibility for the LGBTQ+ community. Since the group formed in 2021, it has worked to host monthly parent groups and teen groups and organize Pride Month celebrations for the Port community.
This year, Chalk the Walk will take place at Bay Walk Park on Friday, June 14, from 4 to 7 p.m. The Pride Walk and Festival will follow on Saturday, June 15, from 1 to 4 p.m. The walk begins at Bay Walk Park and ends at the Sousa Bandshell in Sunset Park, where a festival will include musical performances and refreshments.
For the past three years, children and families come to Bay Walk Path the day before the Pride Walk to create beautiful chalk artwork and write inspiring quotes for participants to enjoy. Families, groups of friends and community members join the walk on Saturday proudly wearing pride gear to walk to the Sousa Bandshell in support of the LGBTQ+ community.
In addition to the annual Chalk the Walk and Pride Walk and Festival, Be The Rainbow has compiled an oral history exhibit titled Queer in Port. The exhibit is open for the entire month of June and is on display in the Port Washington Public Library’s Community Gallery.
Be The Rainbow paired queer youth from Port with some older queer community members to discuss what it was like growing up queer in Port. The conversational interviews were recorded using the library’s podcasting equipment and are now available for the public to hear.
“The exhibit idea came to me when I was at a pride party in town. There were all these older adults that were queer and talking about their life stories and some of the struggles they were having because it was such a different time,” said Be The Rainbow co-founder. “They were so interesting and so inspiring that I thought these stories need to be told and heard.”
After a social visit between the interviewers and the interviewees, they visited the library to record their interviews.
“There’s very little editing involved, and it was a good exercise for the kids to interview others and practice those skills,” said Be The Rainbow co-founder. “The conversations cover what Port meant to them and how it was being queer against the backdrop of Port Washington. Our mission statement is to increase visibility and representation, and I think this project does that.”
The interviewees included three individual adults and one two-mom family who raised their children in Port.
“For the people who are teenagers right now, I don’t think they fully realize the struggle of some of these interviewees. They couldn’t legally marry or be on their spouse’s insurance and other things like that,” said Be The Rainbow co-founder. “It was nice for the adults to see how open and honest these kids are. They were happy to see the kids be their unique selves and have their parents fully embrace them. It’s like a different experience between generations.”
The exhibit in the Community Gallery features memorabilia from the interviewees, including family photos, wedding pictures, a Mother’s Day card, and more. Next to the memorabilia is a QR code that visitors can scan to hear the interviews.
On top of the Pride Walk and Queer in Port exhibit, Be the Rainbow has an ice cream flavor available called ‘Be The Rainbow’ for the month of June at SMUSHT, located at 158 Main St.
To learn more about Be The Rainbow Inc. and get involved in the pride events hosted this month, visit betherainbowinc.org
