An event to support the town’s LGBTQ+ community will be held Thursday night following two Select Board members’ abstention from approving a banner advertising the town’s Pride event next month.
Titled “Pride Not Prejudice,” the event will run from 6-8:30 p.m. at Twisted Fate Brewing on Andover Street and feature work from local artists, along with free pizza and salad.
The event will also support the Danvers Human Rights and Inclusion Committee that went before the Select Board on April 15 for a routine request to hang a banner on High Street.
The banner will feature information about the town’s annual Pride Flag raising at Town Hall and celebration on the lawn of the Peabody Institute Library of Danvers, and will be entirely paid for by the HRIC.
While the Select Board has a history of unanimously approving banners for events with little debate; this one was approved by a slim margin. Members Dan Bennett, Dutrochet “Dee” Djoko and David Mills voted in favor, while Michael Bean and Maureen Bernard abstained.
Bernard did not respond to requests for comment on her abstention, but Bean said during the meeting that he wasn’t comfortable “letting town property be engaged in certain issues.”
The abstentions drew immediate outcry from Mills, an 83-year-old gay man who was closeted for much of his life. After Bean said he wasn’t trying to attack the LGBTQ+ community, Mills insisted the abstentions hurt him regardless.
The abstentions also drew criticism from other LGBTQ+ residents in Danvers who took issue with an LGBTQ+ event being referred to as political when, they said, it is a matter of human rights
State rep Sally Kerans is co-sponsoring Thursday’s event with the youth subcommittee of Gardner Trask’s Select Board campaign.
“Back when I was on the HRIC, we worked very hard to create a climate of respect for everyone in our community,” Kerans said. “This seemed like a friendly way of underscoring that Danvers is a welcoming place for all of our neighbors, including our LGBTQ family, friends and neighbors.”
Trask said a member of his campaign’s youth subcommittee came up with the idea for the event following the April 15 Select Board meeting.
“This is not the message that our Select Board should be sending to our residents,” said Trask, a former longtime board member.
He said he hopes Thursday’s event shows Danvers’ LGBTQ+ community that the town is a welcoming and safe place for all residents, regardless of their background or identity.
Caroline Enos. Salem News