© 2024 Maine Public | Registered 501(c)(3) EIN: 22-3171529
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Scroll down to see all available streams.

Portland Gay Pride Festival Draws Over 3,000, Organizers Say

Portland's 10-day LGBT pride festival wrapped up Sunday.

Saturday's parade drews hundreds of supporters and revelers waving rainbow flags all along the parade route.

"It's been six months in the making — ten days worth of events," said pride festival co-chair Jill Barkley. She said organizers planned for 3,000-4,000 people and thinks they met their mark.

There were rainbow-flag-waving bikers, belly dancers, big hair and feather boas all along the route.

"We are proud to have stood with you for 40 years" of struggles, Eliot Cutler, independent candidate for governor, told the crowd. A longtime supporter of LGBT rights issues, he told potential voters that every Mainer deserved equal rights and equal opportunity and that as governor he intended to pursue that.

But the headliner was his Democratic opponent, Mike Michaud, who came out as gay last fall, and who could become the first openly gay governor in the country. Michaud was one of the grand marshals of the parade. Speaking in front of the crowd, Michaud told supporters he was proud to be from the state of Maine, which passed marriage equality by popular vote.

"Maine has truly led the way when you look at equality issues throughout the country," Michaud said to cheers.

Michaud has said he doesn't want his sexual orientation to be a big issue in his candidacy, but he also acknowledged to the crowd that many of the issues facing the LGBT communities across the country will be settled at the state level.

Event organizers say Republican Gov. Paul LePage was unable to attend due to a scheduling conflict.