Lee — Buoyed by volunteers and local businesses, Berkshire Pride Lee (Lee Pride) will kick off its inaugural celebration on June 14 with a daylong schedule of programs.
Resident and volunteer Josh Bloom, who is chairing the event, was on hand during the Lee Select Board’s May 20 meeting to accept the dais’s proclamation declaring June as LGBTQIA+ Pride Month in support of the program. That proclamation can be found here.
Morning events begin at 9 a.m. with an Interfaith Pride Prayer Breakfast (vegetarian) in the Community Room of the First Congregational Church of Lee, 25 Park Place, followed by an extended Farmers’ Market featuring LGBTQIA businesses and organizations together with a 10 a.m. proclamation reading. Drag Story Hour starts at 10:30 a.m. at the Pavilion, along with other activities and live music from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Afternoon programming kicks off at 3 p.m., with a concert by Lita Williams at the Devonfield Inn, 85 Stockbridge Road.
The celebration will close with two evening programs that require tickets: a family-friendly Drag Show and Dance Party from 5 to 7:15 p.m. at the Starving Artist Café, 40 Main Street, and an adult-only Drag Show and Dance Party from 8 to 11 p.m. at the same venue. Tickets for the evening shows can be purchased here.
The program is a first for the town that began with a discussion last year between Bloom and Berkshire Pride Co-Chair Casi Maggio-Kristant, a Lee resident and founder of Drag Story Hour Berkshires. As persona Poppy DaBubbly, her show has been featured at the Lee Public Library.
After their initial conversation, Bloom and Maggio-Kristant were joined in the effort by Tyringham resident Josh Williams (AKA “Bella Santarella”), as well as the Lee Chamber of Commerce, First Congregational Church of Lee, and Lee Farmers’ Market, groups that have become “true partners” throughout the process, Bloom said.
Lee Pride is an extension of Berkshire Pride, which aims to provide a safe, supportive, and vibrant LGBTQIA+ community in the Berkshires through advocacy, education, and celebration, according to a May 21 news release detailing the event’s programs.
That news release can be found here.
“With the addition of Lee Pride, you really do see something happening every single weekend during the month of June coming out of Berkshire Pride,” Bloom said.
For Maggio-Kristant, Lee Pride exemplifies the greater Berkshire Pride’s mission “to create welcoming and affirming spaces for LGBTQIA+ individuals throughout the region.”
“When I first moved to the Berkshires a little over 11 years ago, there was no Berkshire Pride, there was no organization, there was no festival, there was no parade,” Bloom said, questioning why such festivities were lacking locally.
Berkshire Pride changed all of that in 2017, when it was founded, rallying the Berkshire community with flag raisings and tribute events. “Everywhere in the Berkshires needs to feel like it’s a safe space for the LGBTQIA+ community, from big Berkshire cities like Pittsfield to Great Barrington that has a very vibrant, liberal community,” Bloom said. “Here, in Lee, much like you’d see in Sheffield and North Adams, we are small towns and we’re doing our Pride [celebration] a little bit different. What you’ll find about Lee Pride is it feels homegrown; I hope it feels like we’ve tapped the resources of our community and our community members. And, that the LGBTQIA community feels supported and celebrated.”
Bloom noted that Lee residents have supported the LGBTQIA community during the past year with programs such as a winter rally, recreational activities coordinated by social group Queer Men of the Berkshires (Q-MoB), Rainbow Seniors of Berkshire County potluck dinners, and the No Place for Hate Program sponsored by the Lee Middle and High School Gender and Sexuality Alliance club, with those organizations joining in the local celebration along with representatives of the Lee Youth Commission and Busy Bee Learning Center. “It was time to bring all of these groups together and see what we can do,” Bloom said.
Funding for the Lee Pride program is derived from Berkshire Pride subsidies, vendor fees, and personal and business donations, as well as musical performers who are contributing their time, he said.
Special booths will be offered at the Lee Farmers’ Market for purchases and information including food truck Charlie’s Bistro Bus, trans-led organization Translate Gender, Thriving Unicorn tarot reading, Kailani’s Handmade’s crochet plushies, Imperfectly Purple’s CBD products, and comic artist Cryptid Shadows.
Volunteer Leah Docktor is responsible for communications and media outreach and has been working furiously to contact local businesses for support through sponsorships and involvement in the program. As with Bloom, she hopes to inspire other nearby small communities to develop their own Berkshire Pride events.
“People who live locally or maybe a bit farther away just want to be part of that small community feel,” Docktor said, adding that Lee’s program might serve as a template to grow the project in the Berkshires. “Pride isn’t something that only needs to be celebrated by people who are [aged] 18 plus. There are developmentally appropriate ways to talk about different family structures, different identities with children and with adults. Creating the framework for the local community to be a part of that through different events and programming is so crucial now.”
The 2025 theme for Pride events is “Pride Without Borders,” marking efforts to build connection and inclusion across every town line, identity, and generation.
For Docktor, Pittsfield’s recent status as a sanctuary city proved to be a pivotal statement toward recognizing inclusion for the region. “I think it’s more important than ever for all members of the local community to feel like they are celebrated and uplifted regardless of the way they identify,” Docktor said. “There is an ongoing fight that is going to continue to happen and just making sure everyone feels embraced and empowered to fight that fight with local support.”
For more information see Lee Pride’s Linktree.
