It was finally Oct. 12, and I was walking towards the town green for the third annual MiddPride, hearing cheers of children and live music getting louder, and seeing flashes of rainbow shine under the autumn sunshine. Having recently attended a Pride parade in Hollywood, overrun with corporations such as Disney and Citibank and law enforcement groups like the Los Angeles Police Department, the authenticity of this tight knit community boasting queerness was palpable.
Passionately organized by the Middlebury Teen Center and the Ilsley Public Library, families and friends gathered on this warm afternoon under the shade of brilliant red foliage. Folks marched in a parade around town, competed in a costume contest and shopped at local vendors in an outdoor market. While teenagers and kids skated on a rail and ramp set up by organizers, others received information about queer advocacy networks, bounced in bounce houses and connected with loved ones all while proudly celebrating queer identity.
The event was held on the Town Green.
The event has grown from humble beginnings since the first MiddPride in 2021 with turnout growing from a couple dozen to 800 attendees this October. Elio Farley ’24.5, head of a Teen Center group for queer and questioning youth and a founder of MiddPride, told The Campus about the community that has come together to make the event blossom over the years. This includes a significant donation by the University of Vermont Porter Medical Center last year and grants from various organizations such as the Better Middlebury Partnership, Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Society, and the Addison Independent. Also, a grassroots fundraising campaign by Farley boasted over $1000.
At the center of operations with the Isley Library is the Middlebury Teen Center, which has been providing care and programming for adolescents in Middlebury, free of cost. The center has ironically reached adulthood, having turned 18 years old this year.
Lindsey Fuentes-George, director of the Teen Center and a founder of MiddPride, spoke in an interview with The Campus on how she applies a certain philosophy in her work with LGBTQ+ youth.
She referenced a quote from the mother of X González, a student activist from the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting, in which the mother laments that she could not have been “in front” of her child when her generation, now adults, should have “dealt with the issue [of gun violence] twenty years ago.”
“It is our job [as adults] to be in front. So for every adult that shows up with their toddlers, or every adult who just shows up because they went for a coffee and they see us — what you're doing is you're standing in front of those teens and saying, “We are the community that will protect you if you need it,” Lindsey Fuentes-George said.
Attendees dressed to impress in Pride-themed clothing.
There is a clear foundation of care for LGBTQ+ youth and people at the core of MiddPride. The lack of humanity I experienced at the corporate pride event — which many experience in the Western world — was nowhere to be seen at MiddPride. Instead of hordes of workers wearing branded merchandise from their conglomerates or organizations and cheaply waving a rainbow flag, I saw families decked in their unique pride outfits sitting on the lawn swaying to music by local bands. I talked to a representative at Vermont Adult Learning, who informed me about their local initiative to provide education to people who did not have the chance to finish school, and a man with a delightfully curled mustache tabling with information from Rutland County Pride.
Despite seeing nearly every corporation light up with rainbow-themed posturing in the month of June, and the material ability to legally get married to a partner of the same-sex, queer struggles continue to be marginalized in the United States. Queer people in the U.S. experience disproportionate violence and psychological harm due to discrimination and social stigmatization.
According a 2024 Trevor Project report, more than 1.8 million LGBTQ+ young people (ages 13-24) seriously consider suicide each year in the U.S. — and at least one attempts suicide every 45 seconds. The Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law used data from 2017-2018 found data to show that transgender people are over four times more likely than cisgender people to experience violent victimization, including rape, sexual assault and aggravated or simple assault.
“And of course, this being an election year, our teens are horribly anxious about what's going to happen. But, again, that's where that resilience comes from. Like, that's the adults in your life saying, like, I'm here to protect you. I'm here to make sure your rights are respected,” Lindsey Fuentes-George said, discussing how current events factored into the pride event and how it is a key time to come together to demonstrate collective power.
Kemi Fuentes-George is political science professor at Middlebury involved in MiddPride through musical contribution. He performed in drag as the guitarist of The Almendros, a local band at MiddPride. He spoke to The Campus about the culture shock he felt when he emigrated to the States from Jamaica, providing key international context for US pride.
“Are there things that I can do [now with gender performance] that I just didn't have the opportunity to do when I was in Jamaica? Because literally, in Jamaica, you're gonna be taking your life into your hands in certain places if you perform gender differently than the mainstream,” Kemi Fuentes-George said.
Kemi Fuentes-George explained that these revelations came after seeking out queer people and discovering the possibilities of how different people can undertake self expression. These experiences not only triggered personal insight, but also led him to think about how LGBTQ+ people are perceived.
“Because people became, no longer the monsters that they're portrayed of in the media, but just like regular people that you'd meet,” Fuentes-George said.
The founders of MiddPride: Lindsey Fuentes-George, Kathryn Laliberte, and Elio Farley.
Visibility, as emphasized as a turning point for Kemi Fuentes-George, is crucial to a healthy queer community. Especially during a heated political climate concerning queer rights, Pride represents a brave political resistance while also being a joyful celebration.
Authentic awareness of queer people and of local queer issues, especially among vulnerable youth, is a necessary nuance that was seen at MiddPride. Kathryn Laliberte, Teen Librarian at the Ilsley Public Library of Middlebury and a founder of MiddPride, remarked in an interview with The Campus on how the MiddPride, celebrating out and proud, was impactful for her teen advisory group experiencing hardship due to the ways they identified.
“They were experiencing a lot of homophobic and transphobic bullying in school, and they didn't feel like the administration was very responsive,” Laliberte said. “They were really looking for community support and acknowledgement and love, and this was a way to show them that community love.”
Middlebury’s youth was a target audience of the event and provided key input and aid for planning. Rafaela, a local highschooler and intern at the Ilsley Library and youth assistant to MiddPride spoke to The Campus about the organization of the event.
“I feel like a lot of the time, teens don't feel like they're a part of a community. But there are people like Elio and Kathryn and Lindsey who are working to make them feel seen, make them feel part of the community, and make their voices heard and feel welcomed in their space,” Rafaela said
The thoughtfulness and care that the organizers of Ilsley Public Library and the Teen Center have for their queer teens was clearly evident during the event. I didn’t know what it would be like to attend pride in a rural, small-town environment but was overjoyed to see the turnout, the authentic awareness of issues affecting vulnerable queer populations and the vibrant community of MiddPride.
June Su '27 (he/him) is the Senior Multimedia Editor.
He is a political science major also studying studio art and Spanish. June spent this last summer working for Artchange, Inc. as an intern working to release their new documentary, Cruise Boom, to academic and general audiences. On campus, he is a part of Students for Justice in Palestine and enjoys painting the Vermontese scenery.
