West Hartford Pride partnered with multiple organizations for a rally in Blue Back Square on Sunday morning.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal speaks at an LGBTQIA+ Rally in West Hartford. Nov. 17, 2024. Photo credit: Niveen Ghoneim for We-Ha.com and CTNewsJunkie

By Niveen Ghoneim

Hundreds gathered in West Hartford’s Blue Back Square on Sunday to support LGBTQIA+ rights as the community braces itself for President-elect Donald Trump’s second term in office. 

Also in attendance were U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz, Attorney General William Tong, state Sen. Derek Slap, and state Reps. Sarah Keitt and Jillian Gilchrest, who all took turns addressing the crowd, along with a host of LGBTQIA+ rights activists from across the state.    

Though the rally was a largely joyous affair, uncertainty and fear hung heavy in the air, and the specter of the Trump presidency’s potential anti-LGBTQIA+ policies loomed as, one by one, speakers and orators urged the community and its allies to stay vigilant and politically engaged in the months ahead. 

LGBTQIA+ Rally in West Hartford. Nov. 17, 2024. Photo credit: Niveen Ghoneim for We-Ha.com and CTNewsJunkie

“Two things can be true at once. It’s something we need to keep reminding ourselves: you can feel fear and hope and love. The same was true in the 80s, and it is true today. We must move forward, not allowing fear to replace that hope and love. We must harness our fear and that trauma, and collectively stand against whatever is thrown at us. You have power. You must find the will,” said Barry Walters, co-chair of West Hartford Pride and member of the West Hartford Town Council, addressing the crowd.

The rally comes as the reality of Trump’s victory in the Nov. 5 election sets in for the majority of LGBTQIA+ Americans who voted for his Democratic contender, Vice President Kamala Harris.

“We’re all experiencing some level of trauma, and some of us have been experiencing it for a while. Each of us is feeling differently and, accordingly, facing our fears differently. The message I want to make [clear] today is that we are here together,” said Walters, whose group is one of 14 organizations that came together to organize the rally. “You are here in a display of solidarity. You are here in an act of defiance. You are here in a grand display of strength. And whether you realize it, you are here to face our collective fear and challenge it.”

LGBTQIA+ Rally in West Hartford. Nov. 17, 2024. Photo credit: Niveen Ghoneim for We-Ha.com and CTNewsJunkie

Blumenthal also took the stage, vowing to reintroduce the Equality Act, a bill that sought to amend the Civil Rights Act by prohibiting discrimination against LGBTQIA+ individuals in areas such as housing, federal funding, employment, and public spaces and services.   

“A lot of people are fearful. They’re sad, they’re angry, and we’re here to say to them, we see you, we support you, we love you, and we will stand with you,” Blumenthal proclaimed. “This rally is about more than Hartford. It’s about more than Connecticut. It’s bigger than the northeast of America. It’s about all of America and what we value and love.”

At stake are access to gender-affirming care and the hard-won civil rights and liberties of LGBTQIA+ Americans. For trans people, of whom 350 were murdered in 2024 alone, and for Walters, who lives with HIV, a Trump presidency may prove to be an existential threat.

Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicsz speaks at an LGBTQIA+ Rally in West Hartford. Nov. 17, 2024. Photo credit: Niveen Ghoneim for We-Ha.com and CTNewsJunkie

From rolling back anti-workplace discrimination protections for LGBTQIA+ Americans in his first term, to his campaign’s anti-trans messaging throughout this past election cycle, Trump’s record on these issues leaves much to be desired.

“A lot of it is going to revolve around what funding comes through … from the federal government. They’ve already said that funding for the [Health Resources and Services Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] will be cut. … They’ve made it very clear,” Walters told We-Ha.com. “So, the question becomes what can Connecticut do? How can we protect our residents, our transgender folks, from the effect of that lack of funding? … Do we do it ourselves as a state? That’s very expensive and [will cost] money that we probably don’t have. Are we defiant? You know, I would like to see a little bit of defiance.” 

Similarly, Equality Connecticut Executive Director Matt Blinstrubas called on rally goers to speak up, warning them of the dangers facing the LGBTQIA+ community, even in the Nutmeg State. 

 “It didn’t start two weeks ago. Over the last three years, we have seen hundreds of bills sweep across the country, stripping us of gender-affirming care, banning our stories from school libraries, defunding life-saving HIV prevention and treatment programs that we need to stay alive, and Connecticut is not immune to this phenomenon. We have seen a toxic level of rhetoric in our State Capitol over the last two sessions,” Blinstrubas told the crowd. “We must show up in record numbers. There cannot be a day next legislative session where our elected leaders do not see our faces and hear our voices in the Capitol … we will flood that building.”

Kamora Herrington, founder of Kamora’s Cultural Corner one of the organizations that organized the event, speaks at an LGBTQIA+ Rally in West Hartford. Nov. 17, 2024. Photo credit: Niveen Ghoneim for We-Ha.com and CTNewsJunkie

LGBTQIA+ Rally in West Hartford. Nov. 17, 2024. Courtesy of Stefanie Marco Lantz

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