Posts Tagged ‘adam’

Belfast Pride

Saturday, June 10th, 2023

Adam Flanders at Belfast Pride 2023, holding pride flag and pomeranian


Pride was extra special this year because it was hosted by Belfast Area High School. Attending BAHS as a teen was a very challenging time in my life. I was bullied every day for being gay. I started the school’s first Gay-Straight Alliance, but school leadership shut it down. I was later suspended for wearing homemade pride t-shirts. Due to these experiences I became committed to LGBT rights activism, which you can read more about here.

Times have changed. 20 years later, BAHS’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance is hosting Belfast Pride. I flew in from California to be here. I recreated the t-shirt that got me suspended in high school. My family, friends, and 300 people marched with us. The whole downtown turned out to cheer us on. Teenage me never would have dreamed we’d come this far and I’m so grateful I was here to see it. It was an incredibly healing experience for me.

There was a time when I didn’t believe it would ever get better. Conditions for LGBT people only get better by fighting for our rights and building communities, laying the foundation for future generations. Thank you BAHS GSA, COOP, and everyone else who helped put this year’s pride together.

“The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit.” -Nelson Henderson

@adamsunnyflanders Belfast Pride 2023 ????️‍???? #belfast #maine #pride #lgbt #bahs #gay #gaypride #pride2023 #highschool ♬ original sound – Adam Flanders

Belfast, Maine Pride Parade Media Coverage:

Village Soup – Belfast Pride celebration continues to grow

Fox 22 Bangor / ABC 7 – Belfast holds Pride parade

PenBay Pilot – Pride Parade continues celebration at Belfast’s Heritage Park

PenBay Pilot – Rainbows abound downtown for Belfast Has Pride Parade

Austin Ashmore, In Memory

Friday, April 29th, 2016

Bangor Daily News Obituary

You brought light into my life when I was down and encouraged me to find happiness in our little adventures. My family and I are grateful for the time you spent with us and we love you so much. I wish it could have lasted longer. You were one of the most beautiful people I’ve ever known. I’ll see you again, but until then I’ll do my best to carry your light with me every day.

Nature Futures

Wednesday, April 2nd, 2014

Earlier this year, the journal Nature created a writing competition asking for short science fiction stories of only 200 characters. Today Nature announced the winners and I am one of the five runners up.

It’s an honor to be published in one of the most prominent scientific journals. I can only hope that in the future I will be published not only for my writing, but also for my research. Nature also publishes Scientific American magazine. Here is my winning entry:

Cynthia was learning faster than anyone had predicted. The apparently totipotent cells continued to proliferate at an exponential rate. Today would be the last time they would refer to her as a mouse.

Congratulations to the other winning entrants. Keep writing!

Dispatch Magazine

Thursday, August 29th, 2013

I just got a copy of July’s issue of Dispatch Magazine, which is local to Maine and New Hampshire. My boss had actually saved it out for me because she recognized my picture on the first page (see full spread below). My friend Jesse and I went down to Portland and stayed for Pride weekend. I had a good time and this was the first Pride we’ve had since the passage of marriage equality in Maine, so it was even more special this year.

In more recent GLBT news, the Federal 9th Circuit Court just today upheld the ban on reparative therapy, a type of “counseling” intended to change the sexual orientation of gay and lesbian people. For now the ban only applies to minors, but I believe it will soon be extended to all adults, especially if opponents appeal the decision and it goes before the US Supreme Court. Following the DOMA and Prop 8 decisions, I think it’s pretty clear how our nation’s highest court feels about gay and lesbian people, so I have no concerns. Republican Governor Chris Christie recently signed a similar ban into law in New Jersey, a further indication that conservatives and the GOP are beginning to embrace equal rights for all.

Prop 8 supporters lost their last appeal a little while ago, meaning Prop 8 is permanently dead. As to the DOMA decision, there was some ambiguity about whether same-sex couples living in non-equality states who got married in an equality state, would receive federal marriage benefits. Today the IRS announced it would in fact extend federal marriage benefits to all same-sex spouses, regardless of their state of residence. That means a couple from Texas, for example, can vacation and get married in Maine, then return to their home in Texas and continue to receive federal marriage benefits. The IRS decision, combined with the current Supreme Court position, new litigation across the country, and public acceptance of marriage equality, leads me to believe same-sex marriage in every state is only a few years away.