Upper Chesapeake Bay Pride Fest 2019 Promotes Freedom, Love

HAVRE DE GRACE, MD — The Upper Chesapeake Bay Pride Festival lit up Concord Point with an array of rainbows and activities. The first ever pride fest in Havre de Grace drew thousands of attendees, including the Havre de Grace mayor and the former Aberdeen Proving Ground commander, among others.

Havre de Grace Tourism shared photos from the event with the hashtag #FreedomCity.

"Love is love. Freedom is freedom," Havre de Grace Mayor Bill Martin said before introducing Major General Randy Taylor at the festival.

Also speaking at the opening ceremony were former City Councilman Joe Smith and current City Councilwoman Casi Tomarchio.

Smith and his husband Don Starr were among the first same-sex couples to wed in Maryland when same-sex marriages gained legal recognition in the state. Their wedding was Jan. 1, 2013, at the Concord Point Lighthouse, also a centerpiece for the Upper Chesapeake Bay Pride.

More than 5,000 people attended, The Aegis reported, noting there were about a dozen religious protesters whom festival-goers responded to with chants such as "God loves everyone."

"The primary focus of this event is to really help connect the LGTQ+ community in our region to each other and to the allies that they have," President of Together We Will Harford County DeLane Lewis said in an interview with Kaleidoscope on Harford Cable Network before the festival. Social justice organization Together We Will Harford County/Upper Chesapeake organized the event in conjunction with PFLAG of Bel Air, according to Lewis.

Attendees came from around the region to show their support.