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.org. Welcome back, folks. Hi. Hey, everyone.
Yeah, another episode of the Inspired Insights
podcast. Pride edition. Indeed, indeed. Happy
Pride, everyone. Happy Pride. Also, happy International
Women's Day. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, that is
today. I found that out. Yeah. The all -women's
jiu -jitsu class this morning. So happy International
Women's Day. Happy Pride. You are a fascinating
person. All right, we'll get there. We'll get
there. Okay, so we have two lovely guests. Would
you guys like to introduce yourselves? Absolutely.
I'm Betsy Lundy. I'm the executive director of
the Downtown Bangor Partnership. Yay! And I'm
Bobby Jean Garso, or BJ as most people know me.
I work locally in a hospital here full -time.
I am the board of directors for a lot of type
1 diabetes communities, and I'm also on the board
for Bangor Pride, which is going to be the best
one yet this year. And I can't wait to talk about
it. I can't wait to talk about it. Well, thank
you both for being here. This is such an important
topic, especially... So I really just thank you
for being here and being willing to talk. We
love you guys. We love the podcast. And I love
the fact that you bring light to subjects that,
whether I'm working professionally or in small
business, that are subjects that can be real
touchy right now. So thank you for bringing light
to our community. And having us. Soren has yet
to believe that people actually are listening
to the podcast and that it's making a difference.
It is. It makes a difference. Even if one person
hears it, it makes a difference. So we have to
remember that. I guarantee you there's another
one. Seven. I think we're on eight now. Maybe
got eight. Yeah, well, thank you both. I'm excited
to have this conversation. one of the reasons
why soren and i wanted to have you both here
is a to just talk about the importance of resilience
and allyship and pride and there's some changes
with pride this year and so it's also a good
opportunity to let some of our local listeners
know that there's some big stuff going pride
is still happening bigger than ever before yes
do you want to talk a little bit about sort of
the role that downtown bangor is going to play
with this year's sure yeah um i was telling soren
before we got started that downtown bangor has
always been well it's obviously the home of pride
right that like most of the pride activities
obviously the festival parade happened in downtown
um you know there's some really um important
both positive and tragic events uh related to
the lgbtq plus community in bangor um that have
kind of i think solidified downtown bangor as
like a core place for pride and you're talking
about charlie howard's death and soren and i
actually did a visit to the memorial downtown
and did some photos there before so yeah charlie
howard is an absolute um just a tragic story
that unfortunately is a is a sort of stain on
bangor's history around lgbtq acceptance and
yeah yeah absolutely and i think uh in some ways
like the fact that you know the festival and
the parade and the rainbow walkways there you
know those are all things i think that kind of
maybe were born out of that to a certain extent
you know like that um i do think that at that
moment in time it was much more um okay you know
to be anti -gay and i think when people saw what
that can translate into um it really helped the
community start to rally around and create that
sense of allyship in in a way that has grown
over time right like i don't think that like
everybody was overnight like okay now i'm a supporter
you know but i think it opened doors and conversations
i know when i talked to my parents about it you
know like you know it certainly impacted them
like you know considerably and changed the way
that they thought about things yeah just watching
their mental evolution over time yeah I mean
I as somebody who grew up locally to this area
84 like that stands out in my mind is something
like that was a thing and I just remember The
punchlines and the jokes and just actually in
my class When my English teacher was brave enough,
it was old town, which I know that north of Orono
Orono is very liberal. Yeah, you may love them
over there But in old town we watched a video
on it and it was just amazing to me because I
know there's people still living in that community
that actually almost crazed yeah this crime like
this person for just existing yeah and that's
on the side note of it being someone who didn't
even dare to come out of the closet while i was
in high school even though everyone knew my best
friend was my girlfriend yeah you know and she
was amazing but it was one of those things i
just remember watching the video and hearing
the comments yeah which made me just want to
like shrivel up yeah and things like that but
now it's like i know that with that unfortunate
event though how in pun intended how proud he
would be yeah of where we are as a community
showing that we're not going to back down no
that we're not going to hide away and we're not
going to be scared we're going to we're going
to kill him with kindness yeah and show them
that we're not doing anything wrong we just want
to celebrate love and acceptance yeah and as
an also an old town grad i don't know if you
knew that um it's interesting yeah i like being
in i think probably middle school at that time
but yeah it was yeah yeah yeah yeah 10. we're
not yeah i was tired yeah but yeah like circling
back to the original conversation there about
like you know like so downtown i mean it's like
it's just steeped in the culture here you know
downtown that there's this conversation you know
about it and so the downtown bangor partnership
which has been around since 1988 um has always
been a supporter of pride in various ways like
a lot of that has come like through like you
know marketing support and promotion or helping
execute events or or providing information connection
that sort of thing and um last year um orion
and ethan uh were organizing pride and uh they
when they met with us they said you know we were
kind of put on notice that heal is not going
to have the capacity to do pride next year and
kind of need like a parent organization um to
help us with kind of the infrastructure pieces
and would downtown bengal be interested and i
was like yes absolutely and we were like okay
cool we'll like reconvene after pride is over
like talk about it and of course they moved away
and so i was just kind of like okay like i don't
really know where to go with this because again
like a major philosophy of the downtown bengal
partnership is that we don't want to co -opt
events that really belong to other communities
and like take them on and be like we're gonna
do them for you you know because we really feel
like it has to come from there So, you know,
we kind of kicked it around a little bit at the
committee level and at the board level. And then
I reached out to Josh D 'Alessio at Kiel and
said, hey, just so you know, this is where the
conversation was left with Ethan. And he was
like, oh my God, that would be so helpful. Like,
I really would love for you guys to do that because
we just, we literally cannot do it again this
year. And I was like, cool, fine, whatever. Like
literally the next day, like the pride committee
was like, and we're doing pride on our own. And
I was like, all right, cool. Yeah. yeah and so
then you know we started uh you know you know
conversations with the two sams like they were
the first ones yeah um they're they are they're
really wonderful and um you know we're just kind
of like okay like what is it exactly that you
need what do you need yeah and like for them
it was like okay we know what we want it to be
But we need, you know, a nonprofit that can handle
the financial aspect of it. Right. The money
in the money out piece of things that can get,
you know, insurance that can, you know, kind
of talk us through the really the less fun side
of it. You know, when I was. When I first joined
the Downtown Negro Partnership, I was a board
member and I was like, oh, events are so fun.
But then when you realize that it's also like
less, you're like, oh, insurance. So you, well
that, 100%, and that was my inspired insight
for our week for this episode, is that folks
have no idea what it takes, whether it's a...
day -long event, a four -hour meeting, or a multi
-day conference. The amount of just energy and
resources and details that go into making this
stuff the thing that it is. And my inspired insight
is make sure you thank an organizer. Make sure
you're just taking two seconds to say, that parade
was awesome. Thank you for putting that on. Yeah,
I think that's so key because it is really easy
to forget that the majority of the people who
are doing the work are volunteers, right? Right.
And we work full -time jobs. I mean, actually,
I work a lot of jobs. Yeah. And you're a country
minor. Yeah. And it's one of those things, though,
and we have to realize that. Everything from
the security of the concerts or the background,
the sound check people. or things like that and
it's one of those things like we need to realize
that there's a lot of work put in here and outside
of it. We're taking time away from our family
lives. We're taking time away from this because
we want to put on events in the best way we can.
But people tend to forget, like even me, we're
trying to organize a 5K. I call it the Wicked
Gay 5K. It just makes me stressed to wear short
shorts. So I'm hoping we can hook up with happy
endings because Melissa's really good with planning
that. But anyway, point being is, but then finding
out we need insurance, city permits. just like
show up and go running around right right and
these things and i was like talking to vancouver
parks and rec who have been fantastic and i was
just like insurance to go running yeah right
yeah so thank you for bringing that up yeah myself
working in these other fields i thank you for
working with us yeah no i mean that's i mean
that's the it takes a lot of like really unfun
so on stuff so it takes a special kind of person
to want to take on that workload right like in
in and i will say too just organizations across
the board are kind of like volunteer base is
like shrinking so you have like less and less
people you know lifting more and more you know
stuff you know and you always want to make things
your thing bigger than it was last year but if
you don't have kind of the community support
like I know for pride the biggest thing is going
to be volunteers on the parade like yeah that
is like you need so many people to make sure
that you know the vehicles are spaced safely
and that nobody's running onto the road. The
lift is so hard on a parade. That's right. I
think about that all the time with the Festival
of Lights parade and Fourth of July parade too.
There are just so many people who give up their
time to come out there so that other folks can
stand on the sidelines and be like, yay! I think
there's an assumption that public safety, like
our friends in the police force, they're doing
that. they can't and they can't yeah so that
yeah yeah we'll come back to some of this soren
inspired insight for the episode um my inspired
insight is kind of off topic but it does have
to do with pride and our identity as a community
um so as i've journeyed through my like exploration
of my identity um i have found that i have decreased
my reliance on labels significantly yeah like
in in my youth uh as i was like exploring my
gender identity uh and exploring um what my sexual
orientation was i didn't really need to explore
that much but um I relied on labels so heavily
to identify myself and feel like my experience
was valid. But as I've become increasingly comfortable
with my identity and how I present and how I
interact with the world regarding matters of
sexual orientation and gender, I have sort of
withdrawn from the labels that I previously used.
And I've stopped. talking about it as like a
concrete, formalized thing. And I think that
that has allowed me to identify with the community
rather than myself as an individual within it.
And I think that is increasingly important as
queer individuals are persecuted, as individuals
that we stand united as a front. And part of
breaking down some of those barriers can be I
think, putting less emphasis on the importance
of labels. Do you think that's a generational
piece? Because I know you and I have talked about
this a lot, that folks your age... are really
embracing i'm 17. are you okay yeah i actually
was assuming you were probably mid like no oh
why thank you no folks your age seem to be really
embracing that non -binary piece around both
sexual orientation and gender where my generation
like we needed the word we needed the label maybe
there was some safety in calling it something
and folks your age don't seem to need that i
i think honestly for me at least labels were
like a matter of validity and asserting myself
as a thing that is existing right in a concrete
yeah as a badge it's it's a way to show others
that i exist as a part of a group that actually
is real right like my experience is valid right
absolutely um but now i think queer individuals
at least in certain circles obviously it's becoming
increasingly difficult for queer individuals
to exist yeah um but in certain circles it just
is it's not something that needs to be announced
or defined it is simply a part of the social
milieu yeah right well i even think that word
queer i was just gonna say that i mean yeah like
like it is used so much because it's has that
amorphous quality yeah yeah but when we were
growing up nope You know, like, you know, I had
two older brothers. And again, growing up in
the backwoods of Greenbush, like they threw around
the F word all the time. I don't even want to
say it. Right. But I remember like having MTV
on and they'd be like, even though my brother
was a Magic Johnson fan who had HIV. However,
if someone in our community had it, you know,
they got it. They deserved it. That's right.
But Magic Johnson was. having sex with all these
women right and a basketball player was cool
yeah and they would look at like gay people on
tv and be like yeah yeah yeah and that was the
household like i grew up and it's just one of
those things like we didn't dare to say yeah
say certain words and i remember even now like
admitting like i felt with badges you either
had to be gay or that and i'm bisexual my wife
is bisexual yeah and it's one of those things
that has taken me years because of the stigma
we had growing up Because people would be like,
you can't be both, and things like that. But
now, and thanks to your generation for helping
us get rid of those labels, I'm very comfortable
admitting that I'm attracted to both sexes. I
just fell in love with a woman I want to spend
the rest of my life with. And thank you for your
generation for allowing us to get rid of such
rigid boundaries. Yeah. Well, we've talked about
this all the time. It's probably been, well,
actually, probably in my... relationship with
you that i spent more time thinking about the
word queer and finding an enhanced amount of
comfort because of right the connotations when
we were younger but really like i don't love
the label thing either i think those labels can
divide us more than unite us sometimes especially
with what's going on with trans and non -binary
folks so this idea of queer being everything
else i kind of dig that yeah me too and i think
human behavior and experience is so diverse yeah
that by attempting to fit a like set group of
labels onto it you are sort of minimizing those
experiences and limiting individuals to a set
of behavioral patterns, right? Well, remember,
as the clinical social worker, you and I have
also talked about those labels of depression,
anxiety, bipolar. Or even diabetic. Or in the
medical world, right? There's something a little
too pathological and a little too, that diagnostic
piece of these labels. We all know that there
were times not that long ago where homosexuality
was a mental health diagnosis. Gender identity
disorder. That these pieces were meant to divide
and this pathological view of our identities.
So all the more reason that I've been, even as
a clinician, gravitating more towards queer,
non -binary, and not labeling it. Yeah. And I
think too, like part of queerness is deconstructing
social norms, right? We are actively attempting
to sort of abstract reality and pull people away
from like concrete ideas around gender and concrete
ideas around sexual orientation. And when we
then replace those concrete ideas with separate
concrete ideas, ultimately we're making progress,
but... Not really. Yeah. Right. Well, we're replacing
one just to create another. Precisely. Yeah.
Inspired insights for the two of you. How about
you go first? I want to like change mine after
this conversation already. Can I switch it up?
Of course. Okay. So I was going to do something
completely different, but just all this talking
about like pride and identity and things like
that. It has me thinking about this thing with
my kids where. Yeah. Oh, wow. I've got three
birth babies and three stepkids. It's a kind
of wild and crazy modern. Yeah. But yeah, so
all the time, like they are always talking about
or I mean, they're not always talking about,
but they like have these accomplishments that
they do. Right. And like, I always want to say
I'm proud of you. But I'm actually really trying
to shy away from that and be like, you must be
so proud of yourself. And really like foster
that sense of like pride. Internalizing. And
I do think it relates to pride as in like, you
know, like the pride festival and stuff like
that. And like it being an opportunity that's
because sometimes I do think that people think
it's about being showy to others. rather than
showing yourself right and it's really i think
that's what it is about because you know if you
have a booth there i don't know have you ever
worked a booth there before or anything like
at the pride festival i buy social i have you're
like festivals you're like static and all the
folks are just coming by you all day long and
like everybody is just like letting every flag
yeah everything there there are no two people
the same like like whatever your jam is like
you've got it on full display right and it isn't
about like gathering something from somebody
else so much as it is like this day where you
come out and show the world who you are. That's
right. Right. Yeah. Right. Absolutely. Yeah.
I love that. I think I and me and Chris both
have talked a lot about in previous episodes,
this idea of deriving like social gratification,
not externally, but internally. And I think pride
is beautiful, not because it is a display of
queer identity. to people outside of the queer
community, but rather because it is an opportunity
for queer individuals to show themselves to themselves,
right? Like really exist as an individual and
just let it all loose, right? Which is what you
were pointing out. And like test the boundaries.
Test, yeah, totally. Like how far am I into this
or that or whatever? Like we're just really putting
it all out there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Every June,
I talk with a young person, inevitably, who it's
their first Pride. And even just wearing that
T -shirt or those colors or the flag around there,
you see they're standing a little bit taller.
Their shoulders are a little bit more relaxed.
Like for many of the young people in our community,
it's the first time. and it's the first time
they've seen others so that representation piece
community we spend a lot of time talking about
community building yeah that's the one downside
of us not having a gay bar anymore i know is
like you could walk into like it was kind of
cool at first because it's like you know like
everybody's all hanging out together but then
you also lose this sense of like you walk in
and you have an idea that everybody's on the
same page as you yeah yeah well i always wonder
the folks that are saying that like we don't
need a gay bar because They're not gay. They're
not queer, right? So why don't you ask the queer
folks in your community what we would like, and
whether it's a bar, a bookstore, a coffee shop.
I absolutely miss having a space that is ours,
right? I feel, however, though, obviously politics
have changed. And as you were stating, that our
community is kind of... were shying away more
um because of certain things and all the things
online about transgender and especially what's
going on in the state of maine i remember working
at alternative bars and then i felt like we accepted
it so much we didn't need those bars anymore
yeah like i wasn't as like i felt proud to hold
my wife's hand anyway yeah and i just felt like
we like meeting people that we kind of shied
away from it because i felt like we were more
accepting like five six years ago where kind
of we felt like we didn't need but now we need
those spaces yeah because of yeah we're taking
such a shift and i think too what i thought you
where i thought you were going to go with that
like you know like when you're saying like we
don't need it i was thinking like i thought you
were gonna say because you were married but like
no it's like like we need it more because what
i was gonna say like if you are a single gay
person in this community like you know like and
you Are in like a any like bar or restaurant
or whatever like it might be hard for you to
identify like yeah Yeah, let me just offer this
though that I Don't feel like we need more queer
spaces in in town Because of acceptance from
straight folks we need more queer spaces in town
for other queer folks yeah like you can meet
people like 100 and be out and seen and modeling
that we are living our lives just like all the
other straight places around Welcome to our nightly
conversation. sex parties yeah taxes we're working
hard like when we were driving to an ice skating
event and we were just that basic married couple
like 100 if we were not a woman and a woman people
would not even bat an eye at us they would probably
actually be like this is the ideal american couple
yeah like right here yeah because we're two women
and we both work in health care we're successful
we do a lot for our community but we were driving
in the car today and so my and we were just like
how are we hurting anybody right you know we're
we're not we're not like yeah like how is our
sexual identity in some ways that gets to what
my inspired insight was going to be which is
that people need to care Less about more and
more about less, right? We'll share the insight.
That's what we'll share. And it goes to your
insight, too. You were talking about gay girl
labels because when I am with my wife, I don't
think of us as a gay couple. I just think of
us as a married couple. Right, right. She's my
emergency contact, and unfortunately, I'm hers.
Yeah. Right, this idea that gay marriage is a
different thing than marriage. It's just a marriage.
Right. on like and i get we need our labels but
like they're just literally in the car on 202
driving to alfond arena yeah like going ice skating
and we're i was like did you do your taxi shot
yes and i was like and then we just started making
jokes about like the low percentage of transgender
athletes and she's like oh no transgenders are
going to ruin sports yeah and then we just kept
sarcastically punning about how really why are
people so threatened yeah by our community and
it just we're very thankful for like downtown
bangor because that's where i met my wife and
just always be oh yeah she made my coffee um
and it was one of those things that downtown
has always been such a big staple in allowing
me to be comfortable with who i am so thank you
downtown bangor and the community and the small
businesses and things like that yeah in my 40s
and this i remember going to my first pride it
changed like you said i stood a little bit taller
and i stood a little bit more proud so yeah so
you know and we have to remember those things
100 that and one thing also on top of that i
remember because i've marched with them i used
to work for penobscot community healthcare yeah
a great non -profit organization and lori um
dwyer the um the president yeah and she marched
with us last year yeah like we know you're straight
and stuff like that but she was just so supportive
like i think i may have been the only me and
one other gay person and then 10 other people
from chc who are just there to support us and
show their face. And I was just like, this person
makes more money than I will ever see. She's
a lawyer. She's way more educated than my dumb
green bush ass. And I'm just like, and here we
are shooting the shit. We're best friends. And
she has no, she's just like, yes, I'm here to
support my community. And I just felt so good
there. And that's a piece of pride, right? It's
sort of, there's a great equalization that happens,
whether it's members of the community or our
allies. folks are folks and and all that other
stuff just kind of gets checked at the car as
you're heading to the parade yeah yeah you were
gonna ask a question i think um i was just when
you said earlier uh that you and your wife were
like the ideal american couple um which is fantastic
good for you guys and i mean just what i know
by stereotypes well yeah yeah obviously you make
money you pay and i i guess like you know that
may change but you know like you put it on paper
we have kids we have dogs yeah i think me as
sort of like a radical revolutionary child right
is more in favor of a complete rejection of the
social ideology and like the nuclear family which
has resulted in persecution of queer individuals
yeah like we have so much social schema around
and expectations that exist as prerequisites
outside of even queer identity and for me i think
that the social fabric that we have is extremely
cumbersome. Yeah. And like, even if you were
having crazy sex parties, are you hurting anybody?
Exactly. No. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Like, I don't know. I just feel like. I think
part of queerness for me is a rejection of the
concrete social fabric that we have around us.
It is inherently a revolutionary experience as
we sort of attempt to defy social norms. And
I know that you know what I'm about to say, but
just to again go on record, that's why they fear
us. Yes. Because we... And that's why I wanted
to make the statement that we are very boring.
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Like, I trust you. like have
fun do your things if you're not hurting someone
else or causing harm to others and doing things
and i agree with your statement about that too
but i also wanted to share my experience because
people have this idea that we are doing these
crazy things because we are in same sexual at
least like just the reality is you probably are
but straight people are too right yeah yeah about
like my friends who are straight yeah yeah i
mean people go through phases I say explore your
sexuality. Yeah. The best way to turn society
against one another is develop an other. And
today, queer folks, especially trans, non -binary
folks, are the other. And it's not lost on me
that the target of these attacks are young people
who are rejecting the norms and the establishments
that the older folks make a lot of money off
of. I agree. And I think the underlying assumption
that is like sort of the basis of conservatism
as an ideology is that normal is good, right?
What is currently happening is inherently beneficial.
And I spent a lot of time reinforcing in my mind
that no, the normal is not fantastic. What is
the normal for you when you state that? I'm just
curious. patriarchal, capitalistic society in
which individuals are encouraged to maximize
their fiscal benefit by commodifying their own
labor. Yeah. So exactly what's happening right
now. Right. Yeah. Welcome to Sorin. This is more
of my broader critique of capitalism as an economic
system. Yeah. Yeah. But I think, Sorin, what
you're saying, though, is that... That's a great
story. I'll speak for myself. My husband and
I often say, this isn't normal. We see things
on TV. What's happening today isn't normal. But
your point is, history is repeating itself. This
has played out as a student of history, as you
are. I think your perspective is this is pretty
normal. This is exactly what's happened hundreds
of times over thousands of years. There is nothing
unique about what is happening in America right
now. And there is nothing unique about the persecution
of minorities. It is what humans will do when
they are attempting to maintain power. And every
human in power is trying to maintain it. So how
to then... For your perspectives, resilience
is a giant protective factor, right? We know
that. We've talked about this. What does resilience
look like in 2025 in the context of pride? Why
is this year's pride so pivotal? Mean I can speak
as a parent on the subject of and as a former
teacher on the subject of resilience like that
This other man and I found at the school in Boston.
It was amazing and wouldn't one time We were
just sitting around trying to be like, okay,
like what what actually makes the kids successful
in this world? We were like grit. Yeah, you know
and great I think really translates into resilience.
It's not it's somebody who Faces a challenge
and instead of folding up and going away, which
is you know, and context of pride i think what
people would hope is that like as a society we're
facing a challenge right now and they're hoping
that everybody um that is viewed as a threat
will fold up and go away um but what you actually
need is that grit or that resilience and you
need to like dig in and be like i'm still here
right like you know like yeah i'm still gonna
have my parade and i'm still gonna wear my rainbow
outfit or my box ears or whatever your thing
is right my crown yeah your crown right don't
let anybody steal the crown right yeah i mean
that's that's just it and it doesn't even have
to be like a like resilience isn't necessarily
like actively fighting against something it's
just like pulling together in the core of who
you are you know yeah yeah it's like it's that
internal versus external i love it yeah what
about for you for me and being a member of the
pride community and things like that is i'm just
going to piggyback what you said even with my
studying of martial arts i realized that we need
to kill them with kindness yeah it's like um
there's an old saying that it's um it's better
to be a gardener a warrior in a garden than a
gardener in war yeah what that means is better
to have skills with you in a peaceful element
and the reason why we need pride is because we
are a target right now like when you you cannot
open up our daily news whether uh and see whether
comments about the transgender community or things
like that and just like there was literally a
what did they have like a rally against janet
mills like like and i and it's just one of those
things is we are the minority again And we need
something to show people. And we're not doing
it in a hurtful fashion. We're just showing them
that we're going to continue marching. We're
going to continue being proud of who we are.
We're not hurting anybody. We're not threatening
you. If anything, we're going to make you happier.
We're going to show you what love looks like.
And things like that. And also, without being
so too, is that... We have each other's backs
and I feel like very safe I know that there was
an article released in the Bangalore Daily a
few days ago Someone said like you feel they
didn't feel safe. Yeah. Did you read that? Yeah.
Yeah, it was an older gentleman Yeah, I believe
and things like that But I just want to promise
you this look at look at the cameras Everyone
is gonna be safe this year is that we're gonna
kill him with kindness. Yeah things like that.
And I think a lot of people, if you are worrying
about your safety, I know that we're going to
make sure. Yeah, by coming to, is pride safe
to go to? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I want to secure,
and even that we, yes, we're going to make it
the safest, most enjoyable experience we can.
And so by being resilient doesn't mean we have
to be violent or forceful. It just shows that
we're not scared. That's right. And I like to,
you know, I always, I don't know that we've ever
talked. about this. Maybe we have on air. During
COVID, your younger brother, who our listeners
and viewers have met last season, essentially
threw a pride parade for you with a drive -by
car parade during COVID. It was really cool.
I think about that a lot for a lot of reasons.
One of the reasons I think about it is that pride
can be what you like from an event perspective
pride can be what you need it to be right you
can march you can stand on the sidelines you
can sit in your car you can stream it right it's
whatever volunteer you can volunteer you can
volunteer to keep the yeah fundraising because
we're still doing fundraising and like things
like that yeah i love about the downtown partnership
i've had so many of the small businesses be like
where i was nervous because of all the media
we're getting against certain members of our
community i was like who's going to support us
and this goes back to the gossiping thing it's
like and then going directly and talking to these
owners of these businesses yeah not listening
to rumors and things like that and finding out
we would love to we've always supported you let
me know what we can do and it's just like Yeah,
we're really joining a community like there's
more people out there than just like our allies
in small business also a rally Right. The loudest
voices in the room are often not the majority
of voices in the room So as we start thinking
about wrapping I'd love to let you both kind
of talk about what do you need like if folks
are wanting to really embrace allyship and community
What are some suggestions? What do you need from
folks this year? I mean, I think folks showing
up with their talent, whatever it may be, is
really helpful. Because sometimes you don't have
money to give, but you have a skill, right? Like
tables. We need tables. Yeah, physically. And
there's tattoos. We're not asking necessarily
for money. We know money's tight right now. Why
haven't our egg prices dropped? I'm just still
waiting for them. Thanks for my groceries. Maybe
I'll take out our credit cards for groceries
today. But point being is, like, we're not asking
for necessarily money. Like, we have Autumn at
Three Grace Tattoo. She's going to be doing a
tattoo. Oh, I love Autumn. Yeah. I love Autumn.
Autumn! She's on the floor, too. Yeah. Autumn.
Anyway, but the point being is, like, I think
people assume it's just a financial thing. And
we don't get paid. like when i the board of directors
nobody gets paid no and it's one of those things
is that we just need whether it's a safe place
like we were talking about a safe place where
people can meet for coffee yep um we have the
noodle bar locked in for a drag show cool um
and they were jira thank you and ashley down
at the key room um but just sometimes we need
supplies yeah like you know and things like that
and if you want if you do have money and you
do want to donate um you can also write that
off on your taxes because what are we a five
you're a 501 yeah so we're a non -profit and
you can get like a letter back showing that you
made a donation oh yeah and you can write that
off in your taxes so like even if you're one
of those people who need to get rid of some money
to carry we would love to take your support um
and we promise that it's just going to go to
great use like merch yeah and there's some smaller
like fundraising things going on too like the
block one that's coming out right yeah so you
like buy a block and you decorate the block and
the blocks are going to be out for like decoration
i think it's five dollars ten dollars ten bucks
ten bucks right um so like i mean any at any
level for that like financial level of support
to like help just make sure it happens i mean
we talked a little bit about insurance before
and that's one of the like most bizarre things
like having been in this role for almost eight
years like the way that insurance has gone up
for events is really wild. And this is a big
event. It involves closing streets and public
spaces and all those things. So insurance is
a little bit high. We will make sure when this
episode airs, we will put links. I'm pointing
like I'm an influencer. But yeah, we'll put all
kinds of links and make sure our listeners know.
where to go, who to go to, and just to offer
their support. Because I know that we, I joke,
we don't have any listeners. We have a lot of
listeners. You do have a lot of listeners. Yeah,
so I know. You're awesome. Yeah, I know they're
going to want to help out. So thank you both
for coming so much and talking this up and talking
to us about it and touching on these pieces of
allyship and resilience. And I just want to share
one more thing, too. We're also going to be linking
up with the animal shelters. We're going to also
be showing off adoptable dogs. I love that. Yeah,
yeah. Carrie, she has a great grooming place
right up the road. She and her wife are going
to be helping out with ramps. And also we're
going to be doing like adoptable dogs. Cool.
So, yeah. So we just wanted to share that too.
Yeah. By our community, we're also going to help
other communities. I love that. Such as our shelter
animals. which I'm really excited about. I know
we're pup people, so. Yeah. Well, Soren, thank
you so much for helping us with this conversation.
Last thought, last word, I'll give it to you.
I am so glad that there are members of the community
still willing to put on events in a turbulent
environment. And I think it's important to still
maintain that this is normal, right? And like...
We need to start denormalizing hate and normalizing
love, which is the whole idea. But yeah. Thank
you, Soren. I've been Chris McLaughlin. I've
been Soren Peterson. Thanks to our guests. Yes.
And we'll see you next week. Bye. Bye. The Inspired
Insights Podcast has been brought to you by Inspired
Consulting Group, LLC. Edited and produced by
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