We’re wrapping up our four-part June Pride series this week with a short and sweet episode as we close out the month’s festivities and celebration.
We’re joined by Liz Kovarsky, Director of the Working Communities Challenge Initiative with the Midcoast Youth Center. She discusses her efforts in organizing the first annual Pride celebration in the bucolic shipbuilding town Bath, Maine. From ideation to reality - it’s a heartwarming story of community collaboration, engagement, and support.
Please note that this episode does touch on the topic of mental health and briefly mentions suicidality, so please consider whether this is the right episode or the right time for you to listen.
Transcript below:
Erica D'Eramo 0:00
Hey listeners, I'm just hopping on before this episode to give a little bit of a heads up that while this is a pretty lighthearted episode, it does mention some topics of mental health challenges, including at one point, the topic of suicide. So we do want to make sure that folks are aware. And if this is not the right episode, or not the right time for you. Please feel free to just check back with us for next episode. Also, you might notice that the sound is a little different on this episode than other ones. And that's because we grabbed the recording while we could where we could so we appreciate your patience and wish you a great listen for this really heartwarming episode. Thanks and see on the other side.
Hello, and welcome to the Two Piers podcast. I'm your host, Erica D'Eramo. And today is the last in our four part Pride series celebrating the month of June. So this is a bit of a different episode than we usually have. And we have a special guest, Liz Kovarsky joining us today to talk about her efforts in kicking off the first Pride celebration in Bath, Maine. So she'll be sharing her insights. And we're so lucky to have her joining us today.
So Liz, welcome to the podcast. Thank you so much for joining.
Liz Kovarsky 1:48
Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to chat with you today.
Erica D'Eramo 1:53
Yeah, we we were at the Bath Pride celebration this year and Two Piers, you know, it was one of the sponsors, and we had so much fun and it was so just such a joyous activity, and I really wanted to connect with you and kind of hear about that process. So So yeah,
Liz Kovarsky 2:12
Yeah, I'm happy to chat about it. It was a wild ride.
Erica D'Eramo 2:18
So tell me a little bit about yourself and kind of what, what what you do and what brought you to this work?
Liz Kovarsky 2:25
Yeah, sure. So hello, everyone, my name is Liz, my pronouns are she/her. I, I'm going to start from the beginning. And I'll probably ramble. So let me know. I grew up in Rhode Island in a small town where I had never heard of Pride until I was a teenager. And it wasn't ever done still hasn't been done in my town. But we would go to Providence for Pride to celebrate there in a bigger city. I have a background in teaching art. And I became a social worker after that, and have been practicing social work for four or five years now. I have a special interest in social justice as all social workers do, but also in community organizing, and abolitionism. And what brought me to this event was my position right now as the director of the working Communities Challenge initiative for Sagadahoc County, and that is through the Midcoast Youth Center. And one of the goals that we have is to increase hope among youth, which is this big, a amorphous wild goal that sort of like how do we get there? And so one of the things we think a lot about is how do we create more welcoming spaces for youth, especially those who are not always served as openly and readily. And the way that this came about was one of the folks in our coalition said, has Beth Maine ever had a private event? And we all were like, posit, no, seriously, no. what? And so that's that's basically where it started from was just like the curiosity and kind of like, surprised that we're so behind. Yeah, yeah. Yeah,
Erica D'Eramo 4:23
I mean, I think I mean, it's such an interesting landscape as Well in terms of pride and for folks who come to me and vacation and kind of stick to the coastline and they see lots of rainbow flags, and you know, gunk wood and Portland and they see these welcoming spaces. And I don't know that everyone travels like inward or sees low rest of the state and kind of understands that it is a very landscape and there is a lot of diversity of thought in the state of making a lot of differing opinions. So it's not a given right that just a mid Coast community would have a pride event.
Liz Kovarsky 5:06
Yeah, big time. And you know, our neighboring community, Brunswick, they had their first ever pride last year, which I didn't realize that surprising to me. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And I'm bringing that up for a couple of reasons. But one of them is that they have been super supportive. So when we were starting to plan this, we were like, starting to tell some other folks in the region that we were doing this thing and a couple of people were like, have you talked to the people in Brunswick because they had the same situation last year, so they were super helpful and supportive and doing this.
Erica D'Eramo 5:42
And so, um, and the Brunswick Pride is quite large. Now, I feel like even in its second year, it was quite large, and had a lot of folks and Brunswick for anyone listening has a college there. You know, Bowden is in Brunswick. And so there is kind of a different dynamic, what would you say the dynamic was in Bath,
Liz Kovarsky 6:07
For Pride, or just in general?
Erica D'Eramo 6:09
Just in general.
Liz Kovarsky 6:11
Um, I would say a real couple of things going on. There's real working class blue collar vibe, because we have Bath Iron Works, large employer. And then there is this gorgeous little downtown area that Main Street Bath is an organization that works to like, beautify and organize the space. But their mission is geared towards elderly folks and young families. And so I think there's a real swing and a miss when it comes to young people who don't have kids and people who are maybe sort of like marched to the beat of their own drum. There's a big missed opportunity.
Erica D'Eramo 7:00
Yeah. And I think, yeah, and I think in the summertime, there, there is an influx of kind of visitors and tourists, but it's a little different. I think, from what I've seen, Bath is sort of a hub for some of the more rural areas that don't have a downtown that are in the surrounding area. And so Bath is where folks go for groceries and go for, you know, their prescriptions to get filled. And
Liz Kovarsky 7:27
Yeah, yep, it's pretty quiet. It's a pretty quiet space. And like you said, yeah, in the summer, is there's a big influx of people. It's beautiful on the water, you know, got a few cute little restaurants, but it's pretty quiet in general.
Erica D'Eramo 7:41
Yeah. So what did the process sort of look like for you, as you as the idea went from a seed to kind of a full, full grown plant?
Liz Kovarsky 7:52
Yeah, the process was my favorite part, actually. I mean, other than, of course, the drag show that ensued day of the event, that was awesome. But the process was amazing. Because like, from the second I had been like, "Okay, I'm gonna ask my boss, if I can spend some of my work hours organizing this." And she was like, "hell yeah," basically, was what I got, which was amazing. But then, like, from the second I said, "Yes," and like, basically got permission to be doing some work on this during my work hours. People just kind of started coming out of the woodwork to help us organize. We were kind of given this really cool like experiential heads up from the Brunswick pride folks who said, If you can try to co organize it with some event that already happens in in the space downtown, so we thought about it, and started realizing that the Bath Art Hop was a super cool and young actually group of people and liberal group of people who come together to create these outdoor summer events once a month in Bath. So we reached out to them and they in like, 10 seconds, were just like, "yes, definitely," like no questions asked, "we want to do it." Which was amazing, because they already have their own thing going. And they already have a lot of like beautiful relationships with everyone else in the city. So that was like the golden ticket sort of for us. Because I think one of the biggest challenges is working. And we had a great time with it. But I think it could have been, working with municipalities, like permitting, insurance, like working through all those details. But really, we had so much community wide support. When we started talking with the city about like, "hey, what do you think about a crosswalk? And what do you think about putting flags up?" They were so so supportive. And it was actually really funny. We had this like plan because we have all these cool artists on our team from the Bath Art Hops. We have this plan, we're gonna go out and we're gonna paint the sidewalk on this day and we're gonna get permission and all that stuff. But we woke up one morning and it was already done because the city had decided to just do it for us.
Erica D'Eramo 10:06
That actually gave me goosebumps. Yeah. That's not how it usually works working with municipalities
Liz Kovarsky 10:16
Sure isn't! Sure isn't, in my experience. So that was a great surprise. I started the social media page because people kept asking, Do you guys have a website where we can learn about what's going to be happening at the event? Like, where is the event? And I was like, Well, we don't have the location pinned down yet. But I'll put like a little notice on Instagram and like, instantly started receiving messages from people like you and other wonderful community members, saying that we want to get involved, we want to support where can we donate? Where can we buy flags? Where can we like sign up to be vendors, like all that kind of stuff? So that was great.
Erica D'Eramo 10:54
Yeah, that's, that's awesome. So that's interesting, too, because it feels like it accomplished the goal of giving people a place to find information, stay up to date, it was accessible, and probably a bit lower maintenance than creating a website and updating a website and everything involved in that.
Liz Kovarsky 11:13
Yes. And there's this other, this other piece that we didn't start organizing until March. And we did it in June, which, as you can imagine, was not a lot of time. So it was kind of a scramble, but I feel like it went really well. We didn't know how many people to expect. But you know, come the day of the event. We're like looking around, like the folks who had organized, we're looking around saying like, there's gotta be 300-400 people here, something like that throughout the afternoon, which felt like a huge win to us. Especially because I would say maybe half of them were young people like folks like under 20. So that, to me was a huge win. Because going back to like the purpose behind this from our organization's perspective, and our coalition's perspective, is that we want safe, inclusive, welcoming spaces for youth. And that felt like it was achieved. Like they were laughing. They look relaxed. They hung out like the whole time they were having the best time with the with the drag performance as Well. Yeah, yeah.
Erica D'Eramo 12:24
I was actually pretty surprised as well to see both ends of the like, generational spectrum represented there were there were a lot of like grandparents, and maybe some great grandparents and the park was absolutely filled. So the word got out and the community it was really supportive. And it had just such a like, festive, kind of, like, family oriented carnival feel to it. So yeah, mission accomplished there.
Liz Kovarsky 12:56
Yeah, thanks. Yeah, that was the hope that was super fun. And I would be remiss if I didn't talk about our safety planning too, I feel like that's a topic that was really concerning for a while just based on the amount of reporters that reached out to me saying you're still going to have Pride even with all the safety concerns. Yeah, so and that was obviously a huge win that there were no safety issues. We did have a really cool volunteer medic from the Lewiston Pride actually reach out and say, "Would you like me to come?" and she did. And she was great. And nothing happened, which was amazing. There was one police officer, I didn't see him. But I heard that he kind of danced throughout the crowd for a minute or two, and then just like parked his cruiser out front and hung out for a bit, but nothing really happened.
Erica D'Eramo 13:50
Yeah. So what did that look like? I guess, just because I think for other people who are starting to think through, you know, maybe I could do something similar, like maybe I can be an agent for change and create what we don't see yet. You know, some of the like, the planning for the risk management might be a bit daunting. So, you know, who did you lean on or what resources did you have to sort of tackle that?
Liz Kovarsky 14:19
Yeah, sure. First, I would say reach out to any organizations that have done this before. Any LGBTQIA+ allied organizations, I would reach out to them and ask what they do because they're used to managing these kinds of events. You're not the only or first one to do it. So just remember that and what so what we did was, well, first of all, we reached out to the Brunswick pride people because they had just done it the year before we asked them what they did. They had a different approach. We talked through it with our team, so they just reached out to their local PD and basically hired them on to come for the event. Um, we did not have a budget yet. So we were... and because I was hoping to talk with the team more intentionally about "What is Pride? How did it start? And do we feel safe having police force there?" And I know this is controversial for a lot of people, but I feel like it's important to talk about. So we had that conversation and had some time to think about it. So we also reached out to OutMaine who is an incredible organization in Maine. We chatted with them. And they said, another tool that you could use is to reach out to Prevention Action Change - PAC. They host these incredible trainings for active bystander interventions. So there was a subset of us among the Pride planning and the Art Hop team who agreed to take the training, and to be active bystanders. At the day of the event, so there was a group of, I think, eight of us who took the training, and we're kind of like stationed throughout the event, just keeping our eyes open and keeping in communication with each other. If anything, were seeming like it could have been a problem. Yeah. That's what we did.
Erica D'Eramo 16:16
Yeah. Yeah, that feels like a really community based way of, you know, providing that sense of safety and a backup plan should things not go as planned. But I do feel like in this case, I didn't see any kind of rumblings even or any backlash, or I have to admit, like I was, I was bracing like, I was a little bit ready, just because the, you know, everywhere I look right now on Instagram, I like deleted Instagram off my phone, because I don't want to look at all that. So I was a little, you know, like, just ready to be disappointed. And I didn't really see much of it. I didn't see anything to be honest.
Liz Kovarsky 17:07
Same, it was definitely my biggest fear. You know, you put on an event that is meant to support a community that I would say really needs it right now. And it's a community building event as well. And the thought of someone getting hurt intentionally is like, worst nightmare. So I think yeah, that was, I think, the biggest one for us. But no, I didn't see anything, either. Yeah, and we had talked about it a lot and thought about it a lot. No even counter protesters. The only thing the only thing that happened was I got kind of a Karen sort of a message on Instagram at one point and just didn't engage. But it was one of, you know, umpteen other like private messages that were just like wonderful people just reaching out to support.
Erica D'Eramo 18:04
Yeah. And I thought that there were some pretty big names, like some pretty big, recognizable names that associated themselves with Pride, like, Mid Coast Medical, and just, which made me like, I looked, and I felt like, "oh, I patronize that business, or I patronize that office." And that's, that makes me feel really good to know that, you know, they have taken this public stance that they are supportive, and so that everyone else that uses their services, or patronizes them knows that walking in the door, you know, that's that's their stance. So...
Liz Kovarsky 18:41
Yeah, thanks for reminding me to talk about that. We had such a great time thinking about "how do we create like public kind of like allyship and shared responsibility over letting the community now this is something that lots of us support?" And I do think that that's part of safety planning. We think it's connected, like we had this really incredible conversation with some of the people at Bath Iron Works. They sponsored us too. And they were in support. Some of them showed up in their T-shirts and came in buggied. Yeah, I know. I definitely teared up a few times more about like, just watching the kids have so much fun. But yeah, so things like that were definitely a big deal. To start to create those like that network. I like to think of it as like a network of belonging and safety. Yeah, that's what it felt like.
Erica D'Eramo 19:36
Yeah. Yeah, my I mean, when I really teared up at the event, I turned to my husband and said, like, "if I had just had something like this when I was younger, I think it would have saved me a lot of pain, self-hatred, like so many things." And I just like looked at the folks who were like the kids who were there with their parents and their families and, and their friend groups and just thought like, "I'm so relieved that they will not have to wait until they get to college to figure out that they're not broken and that there are other people like them."
Liz Kovarsky 20:15
Yeah, that's huge. That's huge. I've had friends and friends of friends who've had serious mental health issues and even lost their lives over suicidality and depression and just huge mental health issues, just because I think it's just because they didn't have a place where they felt like they belonged. So to be able to, like work with a whole community of people that want to support that felt huge. And then because I am connected with the youth center, I noticed that there were some young people who never come to Downtown Bath who did for this. So it's creating this new sort of, I'm hoping sense of belonging for them. Because we're showing them like we want you here too.
Erica D'Eramo 21:00
Yeah, absolutely. So do you have any like, you know, kind of thoughts or words of wisdom to anyone out there that's thinking, "You know, we don't have a Pride anywhere near me. Maybe I could dip my toe in this sort of thing."
Liz Kovarsky 21:21
Yeah. That's super exciting to have that like thought revelation moment, I think. So if you feel excited about it, and like passionate about it, you're halfway there. And then do it together. So find other people who share that same thought and passion with you find other organizations who have done similar things before. And like I was saying before, what we learned about co-organizing with other events that already happened was huge. So already having that network of support, because it really is a community oriented event anyway. That's huge. So yeah, partnering up with people that are like minded. And who've done it before, I think is big.
Erica D'Eramo 22:15
Yeah, I think you, you and the organizers did a great job of like showing local, bringing in those local voices and leader leaders that people recognized and kind of helped to pave the way and I think even like, Beth Israel Congregation was present, and that was awesome.
Liz Kovarsky 22:38
Like they're the best. Basically what happened, there was incredible I, I was with a couple of other organizers, and we were starting to talk about it. And we got a couple of emails from some lovely parents who said, "We want to support we want to help, what can we do?" Or "We have some kids that are queer and trans. And we want to create a welcoming environment for them. So we're, like, dedicated to the cause." And honestly, they were the best. They were the best, they would do anything. They basically were like, our outreach coordinators and our like fundraisers. And yeah, they did everything. And yeah, they were parents at Beth Israel Congregation, it turned out. So when it came time for like more community engagement, they said, "Well, I think that Beth Israel could do this, and do that, and do this and do that." And they know so much. Yeah, they're amazing.
Erica D'Eramo 23:37
That's awesome. It's not always the way it goes, with volunteer situations that can sometimes be tough to get it all. Everything moving in the same direction and everyone being on board. So that's amazing. It shows the groundswell of like, you know how much people were excited about it that they showed up on the day and in the preceding days. So thank you for like doing this. Thank you for making this happen.
Liz Kovarsky 24:03
Yeah, my, it's my pleasure. I couldn't imagine not doing it.
Erica D'Eramo 24:08
Well, I can't wait to see how it grows in the coming years. And this template, you know, as we make these events more available so that there aren't such wide swaths or pockets where people, young people, older people can't, you know, find their way to a celebration in the month of June. So,
Liz Kovarsky 24:27
Yeah, I'm really looking forward to having more people involved in the planning and putting on the event next year for sure.
Erica D'Eramo 24:37
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it'll go more smoothly, right, because the first one is always the toughest. Yeah, um, Well, thank you for kind of joining me in the in the month of June where there's so much going on and we all have so many things to juggle and so much on our plates, I really appreciate you taking the time and speaking to us and sharing your experience.
Liz Kovarsky 25:00
Yeah, my pleasure. Thanks for letting me talk about it. It's been, yeah, it's really fun to reflect on with you.
Erica D'Eramo 25:06
Yeah, thanks. And for anyone listening that wants more information on kind of Bath Pride or, or any of the other organizations you want to highly, where should they look?
Liz Kovarsky 25:20
Well, I would say we still don't have a website, which is fun. But we do have an Instagram page. It's just @bathmainepride. And that has basically all the fun photos of the day. And it shows you who are community partners where who are sponsors where you can reach out to me there, and hopefully next year, it will be more like a whole social media team.
Erica D'Eramo 25:44
Yeah. Awesome. Cool. Well, thank you. And for anyone else that wants to follow the Two Piers journey and and access some of these resources like this podcast. You can find that on our website, which we do have, which is twopiersconsulting.com, or on our Instagram for that matter. @twopiersconsult. So thanks again, Liz. And we wish you the best as we close out June and Pride, although it lasts all year.
Liz Kovarsky 26:11
That's right. Pride's all year. Awesome. Thank you so much.
Erica D'Eramo 26:15
Yeah, thank you. Thank you.