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- The (Bi)weekly Kiki | May 31
The (Bi)weekly Kiki | May 31
Meriden Pride Community Center
🏳️🌈 Pride Month starts tomorrow! 🏳️🌈
For the third consecutive year, the City of Meriden is raising the Pride Flag for the month of June. To commemorate the event, the city is holding a ceremonial flag raising TOMORROW, June 1, at 5 p.m. at Augusta Cultural Center. Join us for this historical moment.
This Saturday, we will be tabling at Middletown Pride from noon to 10 p.m. and marching in the parade. If you’ve ever wanted to join a parade, this is the one to do it! Send us an email for more info: [email protected].
CLOSURE REMINDER: As we enter the busy season for Pride festivals and parades, the Pride Center will close to allow our team to attend these events and rest. Please check our monthly events section to stay up to date.
With Pride,
-The Meriden Pride Team
Table of Contents
This moment in Queerstory 🪶
Harvey Milk Day
Harvey Milk Day is on May 22 every year, Milk’s birthday.
“How can people change their minds about us if they don’t know who we are?” - Harvey Milk
Harvey Milk was a visionary civil and human rights leader who became one of the first openly gay elected officials in the United States when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. Milk’s unprecedented loud and unapologetic proclamation of his authenticity as an openly gay candidate for public office and his subsequent election gave never-before-experienced hope to LGBTQ+ people everywhere at a time when the community was encountering widespread hostility and discrimination. His remarkable career was tragically cut short when he was assassinated nearly a year after taking office.
“Hope will never be silent.”
Source/Read More: HarveyMilk.com/biography
June Events 🏳️🌈
HAPPY PRIDE! We are so excited to table at Pride events across Connecticut this month! Meriden Pride Center will be closed most of June to allow us to staff these events with all of our joy, then rest and do it again. There will likely be changes/additions to this schedule.
6/1, City of Meriden 3rd Annual Pride Flag Raising. 5:00 p.m. @ Augusta Curtis Cultural Center (175 E. Main St., Meriden)
6/6, Middletown PrideFEST. Noon-10 p.m. @ Downtown Middletown
6/12-6/20, Out Film CT’s Queer Film Festival.
6/13, New Haven Black Pride. 1-5 p.m. @ APNH (1302 Chapel St., New Haven)
6/14, “State of the Union” Meriden Pride Presentation. 10:30 a.m. @ Unitarian Universalist Church (328 Paddock Ave., Meriden - above Meriden Pride Center)
6/17, Gayme Night: Flashpoint Fire Rescue. 5-8 p.m. @ Meriden Pride Center
6/20, Bridgeport Pride. 2-7 p.m. @ Wheeler Park
6/28, Pride & Thrive: Queer Trivia. 2-4:00 p.m. @ Grace’s Place and the Rino Stage
CENTER CLOSURES: June 6, 7, 13, 14, 20, 21 (for now, we will only be open June 27)
Please check our Facebook pages to RSVP to events. If you’re not already a member, join the private group for Meriden Pride. (Main FB page | Private group)
Observances
June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month!
(1) LGBTQ+ Families Day
(12) Pulse Remembrance
(15) Anniversary of U.S. Supreme Court Bostock decision expanding protections to LGBTQ employees (2020)
(26) Anniversary of U.S. Supreme Court legalizing marriage equality (2015)
(27) National HIV Testing Day
(28) Stonewall Day
(30) Queer Youth of Faith Day
Volunteer Opportunities 🙌
Connect with the local LGBTQ+ community! We’d love to have your help at events. Please fill out a volunteer form if you would like to volunteer with us.
Right now, we need volunteers for:
Staffing the center with a committee member on Saturdays and Sundays
Email us at [email protected] if you have any questions. We are stronger together!
SAVE THE DATE: We are having a volunteer appreciation gathering at Grace’s Place and the Rino Stage on July 14 from 6-8:30 p.m.! We’ll have food. 🍕
About the Community Center 🌈
The Meriden Pride Community Center offers a wide range of free resources and support services to empower and assist the community, including:
Sexual health supplies such as male and female condoms, dental dams, and lubrication
Free at-home COVID-19 test kits, Narcan overdose prevention kits, and blood glucose meters for health monitoring
Assistance with applications for heating and renters’ reimbursement programs
Personalized help connecting to broader city and state services
Borrowing books from our LGBTQ+ library
Complimentary internet and printing access
Committed to holistic support, the center strives to address immediate and long-term needs through its inclusive and accessible offerings.
Community Center Hours
Saturdays, 12-4 p.m.
Sundays, 12-4 p.m.
Donate to the Center 💝
Every donation fuels our mission to uplift the Greater Meriden LGBTQ+ community through free, accessible programming that celebrates identity, fosters belonging, and sparks joy. From inclusive workshops and peer support networks to vibrant Pride events and educational resources, we create safe spaces where LGBTQ+ individuals can thrive. Led entirely by volunteers, our work is powered by your generosity—ensuring queer voices are heard, stories are celebrated, and no one faces barriers to connection. Together, we’re building a world where everyone can live authentically, proudly, and without compromise.