It seems like not that long ago, we were celebrating Pride 2019, the 50th anniversary of Stonewall, and having the honor of Lt. Governor John Fetterman join us on the pride stage to show his support. Here we are, months later, the year has gone by so fast, and we find ourselves planning for Pride 2020. In the last news letter we were excited to share that not only had our date been selected, we had already selected and booked our headliner. We also announced our theme, “Strong Enough”, as we are all too familiar with what happened at our flag raising last year at City Hall. It is our hope that, this year, with a new Mayor, our flag raising will go more smoothly.
As we continue planning for this year, we are looking forward to bringing you the biggest pride celebration that we have every had. We have already had more vendors, entertainers, and sponsors join on from the very beginning . This year we are looking forward to record attendance numbers. We are also very pleased to announce that for the first time ever, we have added a title sponsorship level, and that sponsorship was quickly filled by the First Energy Foundation. First Energy has been a long time sponsor of our community and Reading Pride Celebration, and very excited to sign on as title sponsors. Their sponsorship will ensure that we have more entertainment than we have had before.
With all of this amazing news, there is still much work to do. We are in need of volunteers to ensure that this Pride Celebration is bigger than ever. If you are interested, please visit our website www.readingpridecelebration.org and use the volunteer registration form.
Whether you choose to volunteer, or simply attend the festivities, we are confident that this will be an event to remember. Will you be there? July 19th 2020 @ Centre Park.
What's happening at Reading Pride?
In addition to planning this years Pride Celebration, the board and members of Reading Pride Celebration have been hard at work ensuring that our organization grows and is able to do more for our community. Our biggest announcement this year was the addition of a Diversity Equity and Inclusion officer. This position is meant to help us grow, while ensuring that we remain a diverse, equal, and inclusive organization. More details about this position can be found later in the news letter, in the message from our DEI officer Johnathan Rodriguez Baez.
While the addition of the DEI officer is our biggest announcement, we have also been hard at work planning what we hope to be monthly events that will give our community a chance to come together, while doing something fun. One of the events, our “Strong Enough” photo shoot has gotten an overwhelming interested so far. We cant wait for the event on April 5th. Some of our other events will be an LGBT business owned & LGBT friendly networking event, our adult Easter egg hunt, An Evening at Stirling, & bus trip to 2 MARCH 2020 READING PRIDE CELEBRATION NYC Pride. To find more about these events, and future events, please visit & like our facebook page @ readingpride.
A message from or DEI Officer, Johnatan Rodriguez Baez
Hello, everyone! You probably do not know me, but I’m the new Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer for Reading Pride Celebration. Well, on top of not knowing me, you most probably don’t have any idea of what that position is either!
So, let’s start from the beginning. My name is Johnathan Rodríguez Báez and I’ve been part of RPC since December. Originally form Carolina, Puerto Rico, my dream has been to work with and for the LGBTQ+ community. Finding myself in this city that is so diverse, I can tell you, I’m in heaven. However, that’s only my personal perspective and I have seen other struggles too.
You see, I’m basically a newcomer in this area and with so much diversity to work with, some organizations stay in a homogeneous state. That is a critique that I have heard repeatedly in my eight months living in Reading. But, what are we doing to change that? How can we address that issue? Well, not being afraid to knock our heads with the reality, stripping ourselves from our prejudiced blindness, saying “we need help” and taking action, not only in words, but in deeds.
The DEI Officer position was created specifically to diversify our organization, to make it more inclusive and equal for all and ensure that it will be done and maintained. Although some people might ask themselves if this was necessary to do something that should be common sense, I will then ask you to look around and see who is in power, who makes the decisions in the many organizations that exist in the city, in the executive boards, in the leadership. Where is the diversity that we proclaim is common sense? Where are the people of different economic classes, races, ethnicity, backgrounds, special needs, gender identities, sexual orientations… where are WE around those board room tables?
That’s why it stopped being common sense, when RPC realized that they, like many others, did need to address this issue. We need to be more diverse so we need YOU to help us. Even though this is a position that I accepted, I’m not a sole representative of a group. I’m just a person, an individual who will talk, speak, listen and advocate for having more people at the table. Your race matters. Your ethnicity matters. It matters where you come from and who you are today. And when tomorrow comes, you will still matter to us.
So come and sit in our table and let’s help Reading Pride Organization grow, so one day, this DEI Officer position won’t be necessary anymore.
-Johnathan
Reading Human Rights Commission? What’s that?
The Reading Human Relations Commission (RHRC) is charged with enforcing the city’s anti-discrimination ordinance in employment, housing and public accommodations. The City’s ordinance mirrors the federal ordinance in protected classes which includes race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age (employment only), familial status and disability. The City of Reading is committed to protecting all of its citizens so its protections have been expanded to include ancestry, sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.
The RHRC administers a number of other programs for the citizens of Reading. We provide assistance with landlord tenant issues, homeless prevention, utility termination notices, and evictions. We administer a hardship program for the water authority (homeowners only) and actively engage in outreach & educational opportunities.
The RHRC is guided by a board of Commissioners. One of our valued members is your fearless President, Mr. Richard Todd Wagner. Richard has been committed to serving on our board for six years and we hope he serves for many more. We are thankful for the insight Richard provides as well as the invitations to the various Reading Pride events.
For the past 14 years, Reading Pride Celebration has provided an atmosphere of inclusivity that had been missing in our community. The group has provided a safety net for the LGBTQ community and its allies. Reading Pride’s Celebration is an amazingly (hot) colorful, loud, non-judgmental, loving space, where people find acceptance, old friends and some new friends, In addition, this event provides education as well as entertainment. The Pride celebration is among Berks County’s premier events and we hope it will continue well into the future.
As Executive Director of the RHRC, it was a logical conclusion to be named as the administration’s liaison to the LGBT community. The Police Community Liaison is Sergeant Luz Shade. We are available to everyone in the community. Please reach out to me at Kimberly.talbot@readingpa.gov or by calling (610) 655-6141. I am excited for the future of our continued collaborative partnerships.
Your ally in the struggle,
Kimberly Talbot,
Executive Director City of Reading Human Relations Commission
Reading Pride Celebration would like to extend our gratitude to The First Energy Foundation for their generosity and commitment to the LGBTQ community.
