To celebrate diversity and provide representation for LGBTQ identities, Lasia Casil, the founder of Guam LGBT Pride, as well as Lt. Gov. Joshua Tenorio will be marching at this year’s New York Pride.
Tenorio and Casil were invited to participate in the event by the Victory Fund, a political action committee that supports increasing the number of LGBTQ candidates.
In addition to New York’s Pride, a celebration called World Pride will be held in conjunction with the event.
“We’re both going to be there for World Pride. And World Pride is a huge event that moves around to different cities around the world and it’s moved back to New York in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising,” Casil said.
The Stonewall Uprisings were a series of protests in which members of New York’s LGBTQ community stood up to police harassment. This time in history is credited as what sparked the modern fight for LGBTQ acceptance.
According to Casil, Tenorio marching at Pride is significant as he is the first openly gay lieutenant governor in the nation.
In addition, she stressed the importance of the opportunity to march which promotes visibility.
“Creating that visibility is, I think, very important to our community. Because it puts a face to our community. It humanizes us. You see people you know, friends you have, who are a part of this LGBTQ community and it makes it more difficult for discrimination to happen,” Casil said.
Casil also noted the personal significance of marching in this year’s Pride, as well.
“It’s kinda going full circle for me, you know. I left Guam 25 years ago because I felt discriminated against. I was bullied and I left for New York to make it my home and that’s the first place where I marched. And now I get to go and march on behalf of Guam,” Casil said.
Casil is currently off-island and will celebrate New York Pride with Lt. Gov. Tenorio on July 1.
