At the end of this month, from July 29 to 31st, The Pride Festival of Central Pennsylvania will take place in Harrisburg. This year, the theme of the festival, is going to be “Making Strides for 20 Years Strong.” The Festival is an annual event. For anyone in Harrisburg or the surrounding cities who would like to volunteer their time, check out www.prideofcentralpa.org for details.
The Mayor of the city, Linda D. Thompson, in a letter to Mr. Martin earlier in June, began by stating that “the city of Harrisburg welcomes all those who have come to enjoy the Pride Festival of Central PA.” Indeed, anything that is able to promote “mutual respect and human understanding,” as Thompson pointed out “is of great value to our community and we all share in the celebration of human dignity.”
As well, the festival is a great contributor to “the struggle for equal rights under law.” With intolerance comes a diminishing of “guaranteed civil liberties we all have worked so hard to achieve in our nation.” This has to be unacceptable. All forms of discrimination must be fought against. At the end of the day as Thompson notes, “we all have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and as the Mayor of the City of Harrisburg I will not deny these rights.”
