From Stoplights to Skylines: What Shepherdstown and D.C. Taught Us About Pride

Every June, Pride stretches across time zones, street corners, and city skylines. But this year, for us, it started with a quiet hum. 

It started in Shepherdstown: a small town tucked in the folds of West Virginia. With a population of just over 1,500, Shepherdstown held their first ever Pride parade on Sunday, June 1 - and we were there to bear witness. The quaint streets were filled with color thanks to every business proudly displaying support in the form of Pride flags and signs. Handmade banners and posters swayed in the wind that read “Welcome to Shepherdstown Pride.” You could feel the joy in the breeze.

There’s a kind of magic in beginnings. You feel it in the nervous laughter of first-time marchers, the volunteers dutifully checking that every Pride flag on display is secured tightly to light poles and in pristine condition. We as a team felt it on our first video call with Joan Moossy - Shepherdstown’s Pride Parade organizer - when she said the reason she started this was for the younger LGBTQIA+ community members to be affirmed in knowing they belong and are loved in Shepherdstown. We felt it in our Six Pack recordings with participants - in the insightful reflections, the laughter, the stories of what it meant to be seen here, in a small, American town. 

The day in Shepherdstown reminded us that Pride isn’t just about glitter and grand gestures. It’s about the quiet courage it takes to show up in your small town. It’s about the joy of being greeted with open arms. It’s about seeing a rainbow flag on that quaint street in the window of your favorite coffee shop and knowing you’re safe.

Later in June, we found ourselves in a very different place - Washington, D.C. - to join in celebration at World Pride. We sat down with changemakers from SMYAL, Free Mom Hugs, and the Campaign for Southern Equality for an Impact Lounge roundtable discussion. We discussed the importance of youth care in the LGBTQIA+ space and to say it was a moving, unforgettable talk would be an understatement.

In DC, the scale was bigger, the noise louder, but the heart of it all remained the same: community, connection, and visibility. And the contrast between these two Prides, one small and new, one sprawling and seasoned, reminded us that Pride exists on a spectrum. And every expression of it matters.

At SixDegrees.org, our work is built on the belief that connection is everything. When people feel connected to their town, their community, their truth, well, that’s when change becomes possible. What we witnessed in Shepherdstown and D.C. were two different expressions of the same mission: to create safe, loving, affirming spaces for LGBTQIA+ people to exist freely.

Pride is powerful. Whether it’s on a major avenue or a single stoplight street, the impact is the same. People feel seen. People feel loved. People feel at home.

So wherever you celebrated Pride this year, whether it was in a parade or a backyard, on a float or on your front porch: we see you. We’re with you. And we’re so, so proud.