Southington PRIDE Celebrates Family Pride Event

By Justin Muszynski, The Bristol Press

June 1, 2021

A Southington PRIDE event aimed at children and families drew about 400 members of the community to Camp Sloper on Saturday.

The community organization, which is in the process of filing paperwork to become a nonprofit, rented out the camp to celebrate the first Family Pride event -- which is expected to become an annual happening.

“The reason we have so many events is because of the support we get from the community,” said Mitchell Oliva, a leadership team member of Southington PRIDE.

Oliva said the event Saturday was to support children and families in the LGBTQIA+ community and those with special needs and disabilities. The day was filled with games and activities, including inflatables, improvisation sessions and mini golf, and wrapped up with a drag queen story hour. Masks were required for any indoor activities.

Oliva said the story hour was meant to allow LGBTQIA+ children to identify with characters in the story, as this community is often underrepresented in popular media.

“It’s about teaching them that everybody is perfect the way they are,” Oliva said, adding that Southington PRIDE is all about promoting diversity and inclusion.

The Family Pride event also gave LGBTQIA+ families a chance to connect with each other, Oliva said, as they can sometimes feel alone in the community.

Cassandra Marcheggiani attended Saturday’s event with her two children “so they can feel comfortable and introduce them to the community their parents belong to.”

“It’s really welcoming,” Marcheggiani said.

She added that, in addition to the fun activities, the Family Pride event had plenty of resources available.

“We’re so happy to see this much energy within the community,” said Mark Palmieri, who is another leadership team member of Southington PRIDE.

“You can feel the energy in this tent,” Palmieri said.

“This is what our entire mission is about, to bring people together,” Palmieri said.