Portsmouth Pride 2026 is a protest and a celebration

PORTSMOUTH — Serving approximately 500 LGBTQ+ youth across the state, the nonprofit New Hampshire Outright has increased its programming by 25% over the past year.

Portsmouth Pride, the organization’s largest annual event, is set for Saturday, June 20, with roughly 5,000 people expected to attend the parade and events in the city throughout the weekend.

“We are serving more young people and families than ever before. Our impact is just growing day by day, year over year in terms of folks we’re able to serve and advocate for,” said Heidi Carrington Heath, NH Outright’s executive director.

The parade will step off at Pleasant Street around 12:30 p.m. Saturday, then loop through downtown to Strawbery Banke Museum, where the mainstage will host drag performances and musical acts from 1 to 5 p.m.

Heath, LGBTQ+ advocates oppose several bills before NH Gov. Kelly Ayotte

The moment is not without its challenges for the LGBTQ+ community. Heath pointed to three bills in the New Hampshire legislature that have her and other LGBTQ+ advocates around the state concerned.

The first, Senate Bill 552, awaits possible approval from New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte. The New Hampshire House of Representatives and Senate both approved the bill, sponsored by three Senate Republicans, which proposes to separate people by their biological sex in certain places, including bathrooms, locker rooms, involuntary detention facilities and sporting events.

Critics of the latest bathroom bill initiative oppose its implications for transgender youth and adults across the state, if it were to be signed into law by Ayotte. Both Ayotte and prior New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu vetoed restroom-focused bills in the past.

“We really pride ourselves on individuality and individual freedom,” Heath said. “I want us to return to those Granite State values in a variety of arenas. There is a very real cost to our kids to watching the people whose job it should be to protect you to debate your personhood in public.”

Ayotte faces another Republican bill – SB 430 – opposed by LGBTQ+ leaders in the state. 

The bill, amended and adopted in both the state House and Senate, would require New Hampshire teachers and school employees to “honestly and completely” answer written requests from parents and legal guardians about their children. 

The language of the bill does not directly address the LGBTQ+ community, but opponents worry that teachers may be forced to disclose a student’s gender identity or sexual orientation. If it becomes law, the mandate would take effect in New Hampshire’s schools Jan. 1.

“They just want to be kids,” Heath said of LGBTQ+ youth. “That is the gift of the work we do at New Hampshire Outright. We allow them to do that. They are navigating this in every arena of their life, out in their world, at school, etc. They just want to be kids. I want that for them, too. I really do.”

In addition, Republican Senate Bill 434, a book challenging measure, sits on Ayotte’s desk. 

“No later than November 1, 2027, each local school board shall adopt a procedure to be used to address complaints submitted by parents or guardians alleging that material that is harmful to minors, age-inappropriate, or otherwise offensive or inappropriate for use in the child’s school,” the House and Senate-passed bill reads.

Complaints would be filed with the superintendent of a school district or a designee, per the bill.

What events are being held before and after Portsmouth Pride?

Before the Pride parade, from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, attendees will be welcomed at the John Paul Jones House in Portsmouth to make flags and buttons for the event. 

New this year, a ticketed New Hampshire Outright Pride after party with appetizers, drinks and dancing will be hosted by The Hawthorn, a Jewell Court events center, from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday.

The weekend’s closing event — a ticketed drag brunch at the Music Hall Lounge in collaboration with Gather and New Hampshire Outright — will be held Sunday, June 21 at 10 a.m. The drag brunch is for ages 21 and older.

Ahead of Portsmouth Pride, Heath reported New Hampshire Outright has already led or assisted in organizing nine events this year throughout the New Hampshire and Maine Seacoast region.

“We are so excited about this weekend,” Heath said. “Pride is a protest. Pride is a celebration. We are just looking forward to welcoming the community to celebrate with us at Pride and showing up big, particularly for showing young people that their identity is their superpower.” 

Want to get married? Ordained minister plans to marry LGBTQ+ couples after Portsmouth Pride

Rollinsford resident Jen Walton is the daughter of a gay woman. Throughout Walton’s upbringing, she experienced taunts and isolation at school as her mother hid parts of her identity from the public eye.

Some of Walton’s earliest memories are of attending Pride parades with her mother. Now an ordained minister, Walton plans to offer 10-minute wedding ceremonies following the Portsmouth Pride parade Saturday afternoon, an idea that took shape in recent days.

“I would love to just marry as many people as I can,” Walton said.

Walton, friend and fellow ordained minister Katie Brochu and friends will station themselves at the Prescott Park fountain Saturday afternoon following the Portsmouth Pride Parade.

Couples need to bring identification, a marriage license and $20 to be approved for an impromptu Pride park wedding, according to Walton. 

Three different wedding ceremony styles will be offered to couples looking to tie the knot. Walton and her friends will be on hand from 1 to 5 p.m. as the Portsmouth Pride mainstage performances occur simultaneously nearby.

“We’re really all supposed to be in this together,” Walton said. “You learn from a very young age that people are individuals and not everybody is going to think, feel and believe the same thing. For me, it’s super important that I’m an ally. I’ve said it for years and years and I’ll say it for years and years, because it’s hard.”

The event is not sanctioned by New Hampshire Outright but has Heath’s and the organization’s full backing.

“It never ceases to amaze me and bring me joy the things that people want to do around Pride month,” Heath said.

All proceeds will be split evenly between New Hampshire Outright and the Trevor Project, an LGBTQ+ suicide prevention nonprofit.