Independence Day parade to feature diversity group, but no Pride section

LACONIA — Rain is threatening to eliminate a few classic cars from the city's Independence Day parade on Sunday, July 2, and a controversy over a diversity section is also presenting a challenge. 

Councilor Tony Felch, who represents Ward 6 and is overseeing applications for this year’s parade, said that, as of Wednesday, a handful of march groups are participating, and the band Where’s Adam will play on a flatbed truck during the procession. Two floats were confirmed: one from Goodhue Boat Company and one from the Belknap County Democratic Committee. The Belknap County Republicans do not have a float this year, according to Chair Gregg Hough, because they are celebrating the holiday at the Bean Family Barbecue. Felch is still accepting applications for participants in the parade through Saturday by emailing ynotynot@peoplepc.com.

The parade is Sunday at 4:30 p.m., and starts from Laconia High School, continuing to Opechee Park, where a band and other family activities follow, before fireworks at 10 p.m.

Marching groups from Edgewater Academy, Wicked Witches of the Lake Region, Gilford Air and HVAC as well as a diversity group will put shoes to pavement during the procession. Members of the Blacktop Saints Riding Club are revving up to participate, as well as a few classic cars that will accompany the local Masonic lodge, pending weather conditions.

Community members wanted to put together a Pride section for Sunday’s parade, but after fierce social media pushback, the section morphed into something else.

Amy Parker “posted on Laconia is Talking and simply said, ‘Who out there is interested in doing a pride section?’” Doreen Florence-Plimpton said. “She got 400 hate-filled responses. I said to her, ‘I will walk with you.’ I’m not even a member of that population but the poor woman needed someone to reach out a hand.”

The commenting became so toxic that it was taken down. Eventually, Parker stepped down after receiving many angry messages, and passed the torch onto Plimpton. 

“I have friends who go to the temple,” said Florence-Plimpton. “I reached out to them and they said maybe Laconia is not ready for a Pride section. Maybe a diversity section, that may be easier.”

Over the past two years, LGBTQ+ issues have been thrust into the national spotlight by both political parties. Large corporations have come under fire from conservative and religious groups for their public support of the LGBTQ+ community and selling LGBTQ+ products.

“In New Hampshire, everyone knows somebody" who is LGBTQ+, Florence-Plimpton said. “We all thought this was a moot matter and everyone was OK with it. I don’t think it’s gaining the traction they wanted it to, and this situation made it easy to vocalize their feelings.”

This backlash comes after the city council voted down a motion to fly a Pride flag for the month of June this year. 

“Until the council rejected the request for the Pride flag for the second year, it hadn’t occurred to me that it was going to be a problem,” said David Stamps, chair of the Laconia Human Relations Committee. “We were just very supportive of the right of everybody to be themselves and express themselves as long as it doesn’t hurt somebody else.”

Counselor Bruce Cheney (Ward 1), who did not second the motion to display a Pride flag in the city, said his decision came from a place of setting parameters, not a personal feeling about the LGBTQ+ community.

“If they want to march with a Pride flag in the parade, I’m all for it,” Cheney said. "What I said was we can’t keep doing this, where it’s OK for this group, not OK for that group [to fly a flag] without some guideline or policy to look ahead of time. It wasn’t because of some visceral dislike for the Pride flag.”

The flag was displayed at City Hall last year, but to Cheney’s credit, there were no official guidelines when it came to displaying flags other than those representing the city, the state and the country.

“I do have a little difficulty putting it up for a month,” Cheney said. “That’s a personal thing. We have Veterans Day, Memorial Day, and a Pride month. As a veteran, I don’t mind if they have a Pride day, but I’m a bit disappointed.”

While the council says they are taking a rules-based approach to the issue, others on social media continued to be outright hostile to the idea of any LGBTQ+ or diversity representation at this year’s parade. Florence-Plimpton was met with similar aggression after taking up the mantle and posting on Facebook.

“When I posted I got 137 comments. As a 56-year-old cis female, I can look at those insults and go, ‘I don't really care,’” Florence-Plimpton said. “I personally think there’s a certain segment of our population that has to be angry and worried about somebody.”