Report by Paula Antolini
April 14, 2017 12:49PM EDT
Bethel LGBTQ Pride Parade, Organized by Two Bethel Middle School Students, Is On April 23rd
Hosted by Alexis Main
Last month 12-year-old Bethel Middle School students Hailey Gesler and Marcella Antunes received and assignment from their English Language Arts teacher to write about something that affects today’s society. Gesler and Antunes decided to write about the topic of LGBTQ rights, but they also organized a parade to take place in Bethel on April 23, 2017 from 1:00 to 3:00 pm.
The students wanted to “organize a parade for people in our area to come and support people from all walks of life … for all to come, speak and show support for others in our community that need a place to feel like they can be themselves.”
• The parade will officially kick off on main st by the church and end at the CJH Municipal Center in downtown Bethel. {exact route TBD}
• This is a free event. There is no fee to watch, march or participate in any of the events happening on this day.
• There will be some vendors selling their own products so bring some cash if you’d like to see what’s available. A full list will be posted as soon as vendors are all officially signed on.
• As for entertainment there will be a DJ, several speakers {some high profile so stay tuned!!} and one surprise guest coming to perform a very special song for us. You’ll have to come to see who it is!!!! ☺
• We have Rita’s… ice, custard, happiness… coming to sell flavored ice!! And a food truck is in the works so there is food for everyone to enjoy.
•There will be more updates coming and if anyone has any questions feel free to email a.wilson0429@gmail.com with any questions or go to Facebook events page here.
Original story:
About a month ago my 12 year old daughter came to me with an ELA project she was doing for school. The basis of the project was to pick an issue that effects society and write about it. She chose LGBTQ rights. She also said that she wanted to organize a parade for people in our area to come and support people from all walks of life. Hailey Gesler and her friend Marcella Antunes are organizing this parade in the town of Bethel for all to come, speak and show support for others in our community that need a place to feel like they can be themselves. If you are interested in speaking or helping to get this organized or if you have ideas that we can use please reach out to me and I will be happy to let you know what we need. Thank you for your support and please share this with everyone. We would like as much support as we can get. THANKS!!!! Feel free to email me at a.wilson0429@gmail.com with any questions. Thanks again!!
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