June is pride month, and organizations and businesses across the Vineyard are celebrating in style.
Starting on Wednesday, the Oak Bluffs Association (OBA) is hosting its annual pride weekend, which promises a parade and plenty of opportunities to dance, dine and enjoy live entertainment.
OBA pride chair Sofie Green, who owns the clothing store Island Outfitters, is marshalling the association’s pride festivities for the fifth year in a row. While the schedule of events looks familiar from year to year, she said attendance and enthusiasm have exploded.
“I love that it keeps continuing to grow,” she told the Gazette in a recent interview.
Saturday’s pride parade in downtown Oak Bluffs anchors the celebration. At 3 p.m., marchers from organizations all over the Island will depart from the Island Queen dock and head up Circuit avenue to Ocean Park, handing out goodies, holding banners and driving colorful floats.
“Every year, I’m just so blown away by parade day,” Ms. Green said. “Parade day is when the magic happens.”
At the park, guests can enjoy live music from The Femmes and Lexastential Crisis and visit an LGBTQ+ resource tent from QueerHubMV and MV Community Services.
Ms. Green said parade day is a great way to connect with queer-allied businesses and people of all different sexual orientations and gender identities.
“You can go and find out what you have here...that’s available for your health and wellness,” Ms. Green said.
Before and after the parade, all roads lead to the Ritz, Ms. Green said.
The bar will host a pride kickoff on Friday at 8 p.m., complete with a glitter bar and signature cocktails. On Saturday, head to the Ritz at 1 p.m. for a “pride parade pregame,” return at 4 p.m. for half-off food specials and stay until 9 p.m. for dancing with DJ SKKRRT.
“They’re kind of our hub, the Ritz,” Ms. Green said. “You can go there all weekend, and they can tell you what’s going on.”
The week’s OBA-sponsored festivities are bookended by programming at Oak Bluffs restaurants, starting Wednesday night at Pawnee House, which is screening the film Pride and offering a three-course prix fixe dinner inspired by the movie. Sunday wraps things up with a drag brunch at Black Joy Kitchen, headed by Boston-based drag performer Mizery, with seatings at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Red Cat Kitchen is also hosting its own drag brunch, A Drag Revue Royale, On Sunday at 11 a.m.
Oak Bluffs isn’t the only Island town turning out for pride. In West Tisbury, the First Congregational Church is hosting its fourth annual community potluck pride dinner on Wednesday, and the library is hosting Island drag artist Benjamin Clover for drag king storytime on Saturday.
Mr. Clover is the cowboy drag persona of Islander Haley Hewson, who is looking forward to ringing in pride by reading to kids, hobby horse in tow.
“He’s just an honest, hardworking man from Texas,” Hewson said of Mr. Clover. “He rode his steed all the way up to the Island of Martha’s Vineyard, because Miss Hannah [Burbidge] and Miss Allison [Roberts] and all the other librarians were kind enough to invite him up for a little pride shindig.”
For Hewson, drag story time is both an important way to support local libraries and a way to help young people feel comfortable, no matter their identity.
“I think it allows kids to adjust to the idea that we do not all come in one size fits all, we do not all look the same, we don’t all just come in a box labeled boy or girl,” they said.
Ms. Green is heartened that pride season continues to grow on the Vineyard, with organizers across the Island developing staple events that mark people’s celebrations year after year.
“We have such an odd climate right now, and it’s really hard to see the positive in everything that’s going on,” she said. “A day like the parade day reminds you that it’s all still okay.”
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