Hollister locals gathered in downtown to celebrate Pride month in the city’s first-ever Hollister Pride event on Saturday, June 23.
The event, put on by the LGBTQ+ Youth Resource Center, drew more than 170 attendees and was celebrated with food, community and acceptance, games and prizes, karaoke and dancing, as well as arts and crafts.
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning (LGBTQ+) Pride month, observed in June, honors the patrons of the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in west side of Lower Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, who were subjected to brutal police raids in the summer of 1969.
Raymond Andrade, a peer mentor at the LGBTQ+ Resource Center, said people of all ages attended the event.
“It was so beautiful to see everyone under one roof who believed in love and equality, and from so many backgrounds and parts of the LGBTQ+ umbrella,” Andrade said. “We wanted the day to be super fun and also educational, from the posters on the wall about different sexualities and genders, and the speakers. We really believe we opened a lot of people’s eyes, and ultimately started a lot of great conversations for families to start having at home.”
For more information and to get involved, find the LGBTQ+ Youth Resource Center on Facebook or Twitter at @sanbenitolgbtq.
