Christopher Forte (he/him) serves as Assistant General Counsel for the City of Middletown and is the Founder of Middletown Pride.  In 2018, Forte created the City of Middletown’s first-ever LGBTQ+ Advisory Committee.  In 2019, he founded Middletown Pride, which in its first year, held what would become the first annual Middletown PrideFEST.  Since its inception, Middletown PrideFEST has been the State of Connecticut’s largest Pride event, last year drawing over 30,000 people to downtown Middletown.  Forte spearheaded the installation of the pride crosswalk on Main Street.  In 2021, Forte expanded the LGBTQ+ Advisory Committee into the City’s first LGBTQIA+ Commission, which increased the members of the community able to serve, and broadened the scope of their responsibilities.  Each year, Forte continually expanded Middletown Pride to provide more events and services for our local LGBTQIA2S+ community.  In 2024, Middletown Pride held over 25 events per year, providing over $20,000 in grants to local LGBTQIA2S+ organizations, and offering $10,000 in scholarships to local queer youth seeking an undergraduate or graduate degree.  Forte has been recognized internationally and locally for his work.  He received the first-ever Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award from the International Municipal Lawyers Association, Community Partner of the Year Award from the Triangle Community Center, the Liberty Bell Award from the Middlesex County Bar Association, and the Webster Way Pride Champion award.

What Pride represents to me: 

“Pride is about visibility.  In the immortal words of Harvey Milk, “we will not win our rights by staying quietly in our closets.”  Pride allows us to be unabashedly visible, where we can safely gather and celebrate in our own local town square, and to be both seen and accepted as our true and authentic selves. 

Pride is about protesting injustice and fighting for equality.  The visibility that we have been able to achieve here in Middletown and across the country has provided us with the ability to advocate for change.  We are lucky to live in a state where our LGBTQIA2S+ citizens are afforded more protection under the law that in other areas in the country.  Even so, it is imperative that in this moment in time, we use the resources that we have built together to protect the members of our community who are under direct attack, especially our transgender and non-binary members. 

Pride is about education.  We are not taught queer history in schools, and now, the schools that have tried, are being censored by the federal government.  Pride allows our community to educate others about our community and our history, and to share our collective history with our community. 

Pride is still important.  While I have faced discrimination, bullying, and hardships in my life, as a cis white gay man, my privilege has allowed me to have an easier journey than most.  Even still, when I was growing up in small town Connecticut, I grew up terrified.  Terrified that I would be outed and discovered.  I constantly felt different, felt ‘other’, from everyone else.  I changed how I talked, how I walked, and I constantly worried about accidentally outing myself.  For years, I dreamed of the relief I would feel when I could finally leave my small town and move to a city where I could be around people like me and be accepted.  In creating Middletown Pride, my hope was that children growing up in Middletown would never have to feel like I did.  Instead, they could look to Middletown Pride to be a beacon of love, of acceptance, and a resource for them.  They would know that their city supports them, that they are safe here, and that they don’t need to leave to be loved for who they are.  Over the past 7 years, I have heard countless stories about how Middletown Pride has saved lives, has improved lives, and has generally been so impactful to so many.  Middletown Pride was the first pride for countless numbers of people, including many people that I love.  Being involved with something so wonderful has been the absolute honor of my lifetime.”

Christopher Forte has chosen the ACLU of Connecticut as the beneficiary of his Grand Marshal Donation.

Ace Ricker (he/him) has been an educator and advocate for over the past twenty years. Through his company A.C.E (Awareness through Communication & Education) LLC, he has worked with a wide variety of organizations, religious forums, K-12 schools, colleges, medical facilities and nonprofits and now has also just obtained his real estate license. He has delivered a vast array of workshops, speeches, and consultations on diversity, inclusion, empowerment and a number of other conversation topics. Ace uses his experience as an openly queer multiracial trans man to personalize his workshops, and uses his curiosity, empathy, and humor to create content tailored to each unique audience. He is dedicated to continue working to eliminate ignorance and empower people throughout Connecticut by creating ‘Confident Conversations’ around topics like suicide prevention, LGBTQ+ awareness, safer sex and consent, sexism and gender, and religion and spirituality.

On the importance of Pride:

"When I think about Pride, I think about the different ways we as individuals are unique. I see a time when people come together to share the beauty each one of us has, whether it be our cool hair that we've dyed to be the rainbow or trans pride flag, or a conversation we had with a stranger about playing D&D. Oftentimes people assume pride is just a day full of glitter and rainbows; I do love glitter and rainbows, but it is so much more than that. Pride is about visibility, community, and celebration. It gives one single day for a person to not feel alone or invisible, even when they feel that way for the entire rest of the year. Pride creates a way to warm the heart of a young kid who felt isolated and cold until today, because they never saw a future for themselves, but they are now inspired seeing all the amazing representation of our community. Pride is for people of all ages, sizes, races, religions, abilities, etc. Yes, we often think pride is very much so focused in June, but pride events are just larger celebrations of an attitude we hold with us every day. It's walking outside our house each morning to be our full authentic selves, and often doing that while staring fear in the eye. Pride is that invisible hand that is interlocking with someone else’s, as an answer to end the fear that they would never be seen or understood. We may seem the” loudest” in June, but pride is every day when we can be our authentic selves and know that others will see and celebrate us for that. Pride is about knowing that someone will be there to empower and motivate and cheer us on. Pride events, especially when we get to march together or celebrate together or even rally together, sends a message: however hard the wind blows, we'll make sure the flame never goes out, because we are proud of ourselves, proud of each other, and proud of our history AND our futures– and we’re ready to show off our pride!"

Ace Ricker has chosen Q Plus as the beneficiary of his Grand Marshal Donation.

"I have chosen Q Plus (Queer Youth Program of Connecticut, Inc) As the charity I would like Middletown Pride to donate to. I feel this organization goes above and beyond to hear the voices of LGBTQ+ youth and truly uplift and empower them. Q Plus holds social and support groups for preteens, teens, and young adults, and I've been fortunate to help facilitate their parent and caregiver groups as well. Q Plus not only facilitates support and activity groups throughout Connecticut, but also holds a variety of other events throughout the year, which are guided by their Youth Advisory Board. Whether it's going into schools to meet a GSA, or holding an open mic or guest speaker workshop, Q Plus is surely advocating for LGBTQ+ youth and making sure that they see themselves having the future they deserve!"