The 2026 Maynard Pridefest theme

Pride didn’t begin as a celebration. It was a protest. In New York City, police regularly raided The Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village and arrested the patrons for violating what were then New York’s anti gay laws; People of the same sex were not allowed to dance with each other. Being dressed in drag, either queen or king, was illegal. Bars were not allowed to serve alcohol to gay people. On Saturday, June 28, 1969, when eight officers raided the Inn, this time the 200 patrons inside fought back. Over a 4 day period, those numbers grew to over 1000 people who protested in the streets, demanding to be left alone to gather in peace. From those protests, the Pride Movement for LGBTQ+ rights began and as it grew, communities across the country marked June as Pride Month.

In these troubling and uncertain times, we come together not only to celebrate how far we have come, but to defend our hard won rights and to remember that Pride is Rooted in Resistance.