PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The sun rose high on Saturday afternoon giving the LGBTQIA-plus community a chance to be prideful of who they are and to celebrate differences.

 

Queer interfaith minister, author, and spiritual counselor Erika Allison spoke of the "somber" state of the world that has hindered the rights of individuals. 

 

"I don't need to tell you that we are living in sobering times. Ongoing attacks on trans rights from every angle, shocking initiatives to place archaic controls on women and their bodies, puzzling bans on acknowledging the very existence of our community, manipulative dictators attacking and oppressing other countries, and of course the tragic loss of human lives due to gun violence and our inadequate mental health support system," she said to the gathering.  

 

"And this doesn't even include the violence and injustices happening daily that doesn't make the news headlines due to culturalized norms and systemic racism, and the violence to animals on our planet."

 

Hundreds of community members gathered along Eagle Street and Fenn Street as they applauded businesses and individuals marching in the annual parade with rainbow embellishments to the Common for the Berkshire Pride Festival. 

 

One resident said it was a wonderful sight to see how large the parade and festival has grown over the years and that when it first started there was not nearly as many people. 

 

During Allison's speech, she expressed the trauma she had to overcome from enduring conversion therapy because of the belief systems that her Texas family had. The controversial treatment uses prayer or psychological pressure in an attempt to "cure" gay people and has been outlawed in 20 states including Massachusetts and all of New England. 

 

Although her family loved her, their religious beliefs could not comprehend the existence of a gay person, Allison said. 

 

"As I was sent into conversion therapy to 'pray my gay away,' I was overwhelmed with feelings of confusion and powerlessness. How could people who love me reject the core of who I am in such a deep and painful way?" she said.

 

This experience led her down a path of seeking acceptance from others until she learned from her experiences to finally love herself. 

 

"When we attempt to handle the complex dissonance of the world from our minds alone, we take actions from fear. I was terrified then. I kept my heart closed because I couldn't bear to be hurt any further," Allison said. "And if I'm honest, I can see how I caused as much harm as I was attempting to avoid at that time in my life." 

 

Allison expressed hope for a better future in her speech and said the LGBTQIA-plus community is being called to lead a "shifting and crumbling" system. 

 

"Now, over 20 years later, I've gone from that scared kid who was forced into conversion therapy to change my truth to the pillar of strength and joy for my aging parents as they question their own beliefs and expand into truer versions of themselves" she said. "For those who are identified with these systems, it feels like death. We know this journey. We have experienced the crumbling of a heteronormative system of identity before our very eyes as we awakened to the truth of who we are."

 

Being able to walk through their fear and come out the other side knowing who they are and being more vibrant than before despite the messages around them is the "superpower that many wish they had," she said.

 

She told the audience to place their hands on their hearts and take a deep breath so they can take a moment to feel their aliveness through the chaotic sounds of the festival.

 

This sentiment reverberated across the entire common: a couple set up a sign saying "Free Mom Hugs" and strangers in need of hugs came to be embraced while others walked up to strangers to compliment on them on their beauty. 

 

The festival also featured vendors, music and song, belly dancers, and drag performers.

 

"My friends, our lives are a masterpiece of unapologetic truth and unlimited possibility. Live your truth. Shine your vibrant light," Allison said. "Change the world from the inside out. And you will give others permission to do the same."