Pride Celebration: What It Means To Me

The first (hopefully annual) Westwood Pride celebration was organized by Inclusive Westwood and held on Sunday, June 11 in front of the Westwood Council on Aging. As I pulled into the parking lot, I grinned at the sight of the celebration in full swing. Families were spread across the lawn; adults socialized as kids ran between activities such face painting, lawn Jenga, a bouncy house, and balloon animals. With two kids who are 8 and 6, our family is always thrilled to attend any activity that involves a bouncy house, but particularly so when it feels inclusive to us as a two-mom family.

My wife and I moved to Westwood from Boston in 2020. There were so many reasons that we were
excited about this change for us, but we were nervous about what it would be like to live in a
community where we would not as regularly see families like ours. Would we feel safe? Would we feel
welcome? What reactions would our children get at school when they talk about having two moms?
Would there be any other families like ours? If so, how would we find them?

My wife grew up in a neighboring town where she did not see any families who were LGBTQIA+ and
often heard negative comments or disparaging jokes about LGBTQIA+ people. As a result, she was very hesitant to move to Westwood. I grew up in New Jersey in a town very much like Westwood where, while there were no overt signs of LGBTQIA+ marginalization, there were no outward signs of inclusivity either. But it is so important to see representation of people like ourselves – or at least representation that others accept and embrace people like ourselves – in the spaces where we live. It is what helps us feel safe and accepted. So, we are acutely attuned to signs that our community supports families like ours.

Each sign of inclusivity that we encounter makes us feel more at home. For example, our daughter came home from first grade with a book she made in class for Mothers’ Day (not Mother’s Day), and last year there was a community art project to decorate all the elementary school fences for Pride month. This year, we noticed the Pride month displays at the public library. Particularly noticeable and exciting to us are the more public signs of inclusivity like this first Annual Westwood Pride celebration along with the flying of the Pride flag at City Hall.

We are very grateful to Inclusive Westwood, First Parish of Westwood, Temple Beth David, and St.
John’s Episcopal Church for collaboratively hosting this event. We are also grateful to all LGBTQIA+
people and allies who attended the event for making it such a fun and friendly time; we cannot wait to
attend again next year! Because we also would love to have more regular gatherings for Westwood
families in which someone (parents and/or kids) identifies as LGBTQIA+, I also created a Westwood MA LGBTQIA+ Families Facebook group that can hopefully serve as a more regular means of connection and event planning for our community in town.

Each step towards greater inclusivity makes us feel more and more like Westwood is a place we can
truly call home.