About nine months ago, when Tom House created the nonprofit Hamptons Pride, he knew that he wanted eventually to put together a parade in June to celebrate what’s known nationally as Pride Month — “just not right away,” he said in an interview this week.
Along the way, he realized there was a lot of support locally for such a parade, including from East Hampton Village Mayor Jerry Larsen himself, who suggested the idea take shape this year and pledged to help.
“It’s something that was lacking for a long time,” said Mr. House of the parade — the first in East Hampton, “the first village on the East End to close its Main Street for a Pride parade.” It is set to step off at noon on Saturday near Guild Hall on Main Street and will make its way to Herrick Park for a post-parade rally in support of the L.G.B.T.Q.+ community.
“I’ve never been in a parade before, and now I’m organizing one.”
— Tom House
At least 45 groups will march in the parade, and individuals who would like to participate but did not sign up ahead of time can meet at 11 a.m. in the Presbyterian Church parking lot to walk as a group. (There won’t be a live band in the lineup, so if anyone knows of any musical groups that are available for a last-minute performance, Mr. House can be reached via his website, hamptonspride.org.) Also note: The parade is a balloon-free event.
The date was selected intentionally to avoid conflicts with other Pride Month events, including New York City’s main event on June 26, and to provide a great kickoff to the monthlong celebration of pride on the East End.
“I’ve never been in a parade before, and now I’m organizing one,” Mr. House said.
The parade’s inaugural grand marshals will be Robert Chaloner, chief administrative officer of Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, and Kathryn Szoka, the co-owner of Canio’s Books in Sag Harbor, both of whom have been active in advocating for the needs and rights of the L.G.B.T.Q.+ population.
The organization will be the beneficiary of a June 26 event at LongHouse Reserve from 5 to 8 p.m., for which more information can also be found on the group’s website. On Aug. 28, there will be another afternoon “tea dance” at the Wainscott Green, the grassy park on Montauk Highway where the Swamp, the legendary gay nightclub, stood for some 25 years starting in 1976. The building was razed in 2018 after East Hampton Town bought the property for preservation. Mr. House hopes to establish a monument to L.G.B.T.Q.+ history at that site.
The response, he said, has been “almost universally positive — a lot of ‘Great!’ and ‘About time!’ and ‘There’s never been a Pride parade?’ I’ll take it.”
Stepping up for the parade, either as a participant or spectator, is also a step forward for the L.G.B.T.Q.+ community, Mr. House said.
“We want as many people as possible to come out and cheer on the participants of the parade,” he said, “and show people on the sidelines that this is a safe and joyous thing to take part in.”
