“They were truly the unrelenting voices of their time, and made sure that this was something that happened because they knew it was important,” Jess Motyl-Szary, director of Rhode Island Pride, said in an interview on Thursday.

The 1976 pride march came after local Bicentennial Committee organizers “refused meeting space for the group of community members hosting the Congress of People with Gay Concerns,” according to research by Matthew Lawrence and published on the Providence Public Library’s website.

“Calling themselves Toward a Gayer Bicentennial Committee, the group sued the official Bicentennial Committee and won the right to assemble at the Old State House, where about 30 people met in June 1976 to discuss civil rights concerns,” according to Lawrence.

But the contingent also had to fight to join the Bicentennial Parade after they were initially denied the right to do so by officials who pointed to the state’s anti-sodomy law at the time, according to Motyl-Szary.

The 76ers “knew that being a part of an existing parade meant there was a little bit of safety there, because it was an existing infrastructure,” Motyl-Szary said.

“But it also meant that there was a much higher visibility for them to be able to be out there, be proud, and show other people who might not have been out that there is a safe space for them,” Motyl-Szary said.

With the assistance of the American Civil Liberties Union, they won the right to march, she said.

“It wasn’t safe to be out in the ’70s,” Motyl-Szary said. “Incredibly great people marched. Some had to march with paper bags on their heads because there were no legal protections to protect their jobs, their home, their families, but [it was] still incredibly brave to go out there, create visibility, and create this organization.

“Being here 50 years later, and being a part of their legacy has been so incredible,” she said.

A lot has changed for LGBTQIA+ Rhode Islanders in the decades since, Motyl-Szary said.

“But the closeness of it still feels relevant because we’re seeing these continued attacks in our community, and a very real resurgence of attacks on the LGBTQIA+ community, especially our trans brothers, sisters, and siblings,” Motyl-Szary said.

Since returning to office last year, the Trump Administration has taken aim at transgender rights across the country, especially after President Donald Trump signed an executive order recognizing two sexes, male and female. Among other actions, Trump has often sought to tie adherence to the order with federal funding requirements, and the administration has also attempted to gather private medical records from hospitals that provided gender-affirming care to transgender children and teens.

Reflecting on what pride means to her right now, Motyl-Szary said pride festivities are new to at least somebody every year.

“Someone is coming and getting to feel this embrace, this huge hug of their community for the first time every year,” she said. “And in a time like this, when our community is being told that we are hated by the rest of our community, by the rest of our country, when we are told we should hate ourselves, coming out and celebrating ourselves, loving ourselves, loving each other is so incredibly important. Our community creates the space that we need.”

Motyl-Szary said she also believes that “queer joy is resistance.”

“There is a real need for us to have a space and a celebration of who we are and to remind ourselves that we are worthy of love and that we are worthy of being a part of a community that gathers, celebrates, and fights for ourselves and our rights,” she said.

Rhode Island Pride kicks off on Friday night with the “Golden Anniversary Eve” party from 6 to 8 p.m. at the 195 District Park in Providence, Motyl-Szary said.

Festivities continue at the park on Saturday with yoga at 10 a.m. and PrideFest entertainment beginning at 11 a.m., alongside approximately 260 vendors, she said. A rally at 2 p.m. will focus on “what’s happening, get people motivated to be involved in [the] community to speak up and be an activist in whatever way is right for their path of activism,” Motyl-Szary said.

The Illuminated Night Parade steps off at 7:30 p.m. at Washington and Empire streets before moving through downtown Providence, according to organizers.

Christopher Gavin can be reached at christopher.gavin@globe.com.

(WJAR) — While Rhode Island prepares for its 50th Pride celebration, many are looking back on the history of the event and remembering the people who launched the movement.

“Being in the first parade in 1976, it was the bicentennial year,” said Billy Mencer Ackerly. “It was absolutely very scary and we didn’t know what was going to happen.”

Mencer Ackerly was among a group of between 70 and 100 people who marched in Providence’s first pride parade in June of 1976, at the time of the nation’s bicentennial celebration.

“People on the sidelines were still looking at us like we just came off of a spaceship,” Mencer Ackerly said. “It was almost like they didn’t believe that we would have enough courage to be able to say who we were.”

For some, it was a chance to come out and be seen. For others, like Billy’s family members who took part in the parade, it was an opportunity to show their support.

“My mother was in a car with two other mothers, and it was driven by a gay guy. And on each side of the car it said, ‘I’m proud to say my child is gay,’” Mencer Ackerly said. “It was the best thing my mother ever did for me.”

But the parade itself was almost shut down before it began.

“They were denied the parade by the police chief who said there would be no parade in providence over his dead body,” retired judge and former civil rights attorney Stephen Fortunato said.

First, the bicentennial commission rejected a proposal to include the pride parade in the bicentennial celebrations.

“They can be gay. I have no qualms about their activity or their private habits. We denied endorsement primarily because their activities do not sufficiently relate to the bicentennial,” said Patrick Conley in 1976. He was the Chairman of the Bicentennial Commission at the time.

Stephen Fortunato, who was a civil rights attorney at the time, took on the case.

“This group was ostracized, hated, discriminated against,” Fortunato said. “These civil rights and civil liberties cases depend on the courage of individual people or groups of people like the gay community at the time.”

Billy Mencer Ackerly’s mother, among other mothers, were in a car that read ‘I’m proud to say my child is gay’ during the first parade.

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They took the case to federal court and won, paving the way for not just one parade, but five decades of love, acceptance and visibility.

“This movement is based on love,” said Rodney Davis, the current president of Rhode Island Pride. “I want people to come and experience themselves. Their whole selves, who they are.”

This year, organizers are honoring those who came before as well as the tens of thousands of people who show up every year to continue to carry the torch.

“Our theme for this year is ‘We are the people,’ because without everyone America isn’t America,” Davis said.

NBC 10 asked Davis what he hopes to see in the future.

“I want to get to a point where we don’t have to fight to exist,” Davis said. “It’s gotten better, but it’s not there yet.”

Since 1976, Mencer Ackerly has attended Rhode Island’s Pride celebration nearly every year. This coming weekend, he’s once again looking forward to participating.

“When I’m in the parade, I will also be thinking of all those ’76ers that have passed away over the years and about their bravery and their courage,” Mencer Ackerly said. “And I just believe they’ll be clapping up in heaven and celebrating for all of us.”

This year’s PrideFest kicks off Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. at District Park in Providence.

(WJAR) — Tucked away in the woods of Exeter, a small museum is preserving stories that long predate Rhode Island’s founding, and even the arrival of European settlers in New England.

The Tomaquag Museum is Rhode Island’s only Indigenous-led museum and one of the oldest tribal museums in the United States.

For more than six decades, it has worked to preserve and share the history, culture and resilience of Native peoples across Southern New England.

“Tomaquag Museum is very unique in that it was founded by women,” said Executive Director Loren Spears.

The museum traces its roots back to 1958, when anthropologist Eva Butler and Narragansett Wampanoag elder Princess Red Wing set out to preserve Indigenous history through an Indigenous lens.

The collection originally began in Tomaquag Valley in Hopkinton, which inspired the museum’s name.

A member of the Narragansett Native American Tribe, Spears said the museum’s mission is to ensure Native voices remain part of the historical narrative.

A painting at the Tomaquag Museum that depicts a harsh scene. (WJAR)

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“There is no U.S. history without First Peoples’ history,” she said.

The Narragansett Tribe, based primarily in Charlestown, has a history in the region stretching back more than 30,000 years.

Before English colonization, the Narragansetts were among the most influential Indigenous nations in Southern New England.

A display on historic documents at the Tomaquag Museum. (WJAR)

“We’ve had this interrelationship and this history the whole time and have contributed to the creation and formation of this nation in different kinds of ways,” Spears said.

Today, the museum houses thousands of cultural belongings and hundreds of thousands of archival materials documenting Indigenous communities throughout the region.

Among the artifacts on display is an American flag that flew in Afghanistan in honor of the Narragansett Tribe.

“People are often like, ‘Why is there a flag here?’” Spears said. “It’s here because this exact flag flew in Afghanistan in honor of the Narragansett Tribe.”

A U.S. dollar bill signed by Lynn Malerba, the first female chief of the Mohegan Tribe in modern times and the 45th Treasurer of the United States. (WJAR)

The museum also showcases a U.S. dollar bill signed by Lynn Malerba, the first female chief of the Mohegan Tribe in modern times and the 45th Treasurer of the United States.

“You can’t get any more American than a dollar bill,” Spears said. “To be able to see that an Indigenous woman is the one that signed that as the treasurer, we think is pretty remarkable.”

Visitors can explore the museum’s exhibit, “Revolution to Reclamation: Freedom Through Indigenous Sovereignty,” which includes hands-on activities designed for families and children.

Guests can create corn husk dolls, play traditional games, and learn about Native cultures through interactive displays.

Tomaquag Museum Executive Director Loren Spears and NBC 10’s Abbey Buttacavoli at the museum. (WJAR)

In 2016, the museum received the National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the nation’s highest honor for museums and libraries.

The museum is also preparing for a major new chapter. Within the next few years, Tomaquag plans to relocate to a new facility on the campus of the University of Rhode Island, with hopes of breaking ground by the end of 2026.

“There’s an importance to having Indigenous voice in the room and being part of the story,” Spears said.