Lip syncing, bouquet-making, and themed dress-up days filled Parker as the Pride Committee, now Pride Affinity, hosted another year of Pride Week. From March 16 to March 20, the Parker community wore every color of the rainbow, danced on stage, made bouquets, and came together.
Pride kicked off the week with an affinity group meeting and followed up the next day with a Middle School Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) collaboration after the Pride MX. “I’ve never seen so many people at an Affinity meeting before,” faculty advisor and Upper School Dean of Student Life Joe Bruno said. On Thursday, students made over 70 bouquets in the alcove for their friends or favorite teachers. On Friday, the final day, the Pride Affinity hosted a music video watch party. Pride Week “encourages students to be more involved in Pride and be proud, and just celebrate themselves,” senior and Pride Co-Head Coco De Leon said.
On the second day of Pride Week, Parker gathered for the annual Pride MX. “I really looked forward to the MX this year, because last year was so fun,” junior Tallulah Koenig said. The Pride MX featured presentations about LGBTQ+ influence on dance, music, fashion, and makeup from each of the Pride heads. A video on voguing vs. waacking and a video on an Alexander McQueen fashion show were just two aspects of the beginning of the MX. “I love how the MX highlights one of my favorite aspects in queer history, which is ballroom dance,” sophomore Uriel Castaneda said. Later in the presentation, parents, students, teachers, and the administration all participated in the Lip-Sync Battle and “each did a different lip-sync, and then we did a giant lip-sync at the end of Vogue by Madonna,” Bruno said. By the end of the MX, audience members across all grades were on stage, dancing with the students and adults who had participated in the lip-sync battle. “We knew we wanted this MX to be centered around joy, celebration, and creation,” Pride head and senior Dal Harrell said.
After two consecutive years as Pride heads, De Leon and fellow seniors Brady Kass, Harrell, and Leo Hild (CBDL) have created more than a few traditions at Parker for Pride. Some examples include “the Holislay, the pink tree, the new tradition of bouquet making, the Holloqueen, and the Lip-Sync Battle, a new favorite,” Kass said. The goal of these activities is to make pride “celebratory,” Hild said. Beyond the celebrations these seniors plan for Pride, the Pride heads have gotten to know “the people that show up, and watch them grow into themselves, forming a closer community,” De Leon said. “I was so thrilled that they got re-elected. I enjoy being around them. They’re great student leaders,” Bruno said.
“It’s so important for students to participate in Pride Week because it is so much fun and gives a sense of unity and pride, not only in the gay community but just in general,” Harrell said. “A pride of your identity.” Regardless of participation in Pride, much of the student body showed support during the Pride Week events, with the Parker community together on stage during the MX being just one example. Pride Week has fostered a “safe space” at Parker, Castaneda said. “Bringing the community together in support of the LGBTQ+ community is very important, especially since other schools don’t have the same events we do,” senior Louise Hall said.
“The greatest gift you can give to another human being is to show up so authentically yourself that other people want to be more of who they are,” Bruno said. On the first day of school, Bruno advises students to not listen to what others think and to be themselves. During Pride week, students got the opportunity to live out that advice. Pride week is “an outlet to be able to express yourself and your identity,” De Leon said.
