Tammy Gladstone said she received the ultimate compliment during last year’s Pride SoMD celebration held at Lexington Manor Passive Park.
“[Former recreation and parks employee] Tyrone Harris said, ‘Your event is so inspirational to this community because everybody who walks through this entrance or out of this entrance has this huge smile on their face,” Gladstone, who is the chair of Pride SoMD, said of Harris, who died in December 2023. “And that was priceless.”
This year’s seventh annual Pride SoMD celebration will be held this Sunday, Oct. 13, also at Lexington Manor Passive Park in Lexington Park.
“We are very excited,” Pride SoMD Vice-Chair Brandon Russell said. “It’s going to be our biggest event to date. It seems that year after year more people are finding out about us and reaching out to participate, so it’s really great that we can grow the event every year.”
Stories will be told that are crafted from stories submitted by members of the local LGBTQ+ community.
The all-volunteer nonprofit organization will receive a proclamation from the governor’s office and Russell will make a speech about the importance of voting.
The inclusive and welcoming event for the LGBTQ+ population will feature drag entertainers, theater groups, live music, axe throwing, a live DJ, about 70 vendors, food trucks and a PFLAG Southern Maryland-sponsored kids zone.
The U.S. Colored Troops Interpretative Center will also be open.
The annual event began in 2017 in Solomons Island with about 50 people, but swelled to about 150 the following year.
Gladstone joined the organization in 2019 and was hoping for a crowd of 300 that year — “We were shooting for the stars,” she said — but about 600 people showed up.
“Our biggest road bump is accommodating everybody because it has grown exponentially,” she said.
The event — which coincides with National Coming Out and LGBT History month in October — moved to Lexington Manor Passive Park in 2022 and last year’s event was attended by an estimated 1,200 to 1,500 people.
“We haven’t really seen any objection or outcry from the wider community,” Russell said. “Every year our event goes really well and we don’t receive any pushback or anything. Everything seems to go smoothly every year.”
Russell was asked if the LGBTQ+ community is finally being accepted.
“It is starting to be more accepting in certain respects, especially here in the local area, but there definitely is a long way to go,” he said. “Part of the reason we hold this event every year is to try and create a welcoming and inclusive space [and] just to, one, provide that space to the local queer community, and two, to also really just represent ourselves in the community as a really vibrant part of the community, but also the fact that we’re here and we contribute a lot to the Southern Maryland area.”
Russell said the annual event is family-friendly.
“People bring kids of all ages and just come hang out on the lawn,” Russell said. “I see it more as a festival type of vibe, but there’s also programming going on.”
“It’s very clear to me that this community needs this, wants this, supports this [because] it just keeps growing and growing,” Gladstone said.
Pride SoMD is looking for volunteers to assist at the event. For more information on the organization or to volunteer, go to www.pridesomd.com.
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