Mansfield is Proud
June is LGBTQIA2S+ Pride Month in Mansfield
Join the Town of Mansfield in celebrating and supporting our LGBTQIA2S+ friends and neighbors this June!
PRIDE FLAG RAISING CEREMONY
Monday, June 2 at 4:30 PM
Join Mayor Moran, members of the Town Council and the Town of Mansfield Human Rights Commission for the flag raising in honor of the start of Pride Month.
Special remarks by Superintendent Peter Dart.
Gather at the flag pole in the courtyard at Town Hall, facing So. Eagleville Road at 4:30 PM. All are welcome.
(In case of rain, ceremony will be held indoors at the Council Chambers at Town Hall.)
Mansfield is Proud!
Share your Pride and Allyship with our community! Free Pride flags will be available starting June 1, 2025 at the following locations while supplies last:
- Town Hall (Storrs Road entrance) (4 S. Eagleville Road, Storrs)
- Community Center (10 S. Eagleville Road, Storrs)
- Senior Center (303 Maple Road, Storrs)
- Mansfield Public Library (54 Warrenville Road, Mansfield Center)
Flags will also be available to pick up at the Flag Raising Ceremony (June 2 at Town Hall, see info above) and Celebrate Pride (June 6 on Betsy Paterson Square, see info below).
Due to the forecasted weather, Celebrate Pride will be held indoors at Mansfield Community Center (10 S. Eagleville Road)
CELEBRATE PRIDE!
- Friday, June 6, 2025
- 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM
- Mansfield Community Center (10 S. Eagleville Road, Downtown Storrs)
- Free!
- All towns, all ages, and allies welcome
Join the Town of Mansfield at Celebrate Pride! Learn about local LGBTQIA2S+ organizations and supports, snap a pic at our selfie-stations, and pick up a free Pride flag and pronoun pin! You are also welcome to customize and tie-dye-your Pride t-shirts (free this year!). And, the UConn Dairy Bar ice cream truck will have sweet treats available for purchase.
Celebrate Pride is free and open to all ages to attend.
In the case of inclement weather, this event will take place indoors at the Mansfield Community Center (10 S. Eagleville Road).
Parking is available in the Downtown Storrs Parking Garage, which is free for your first 2 hours and just $1/hour thereafter. The garage is about a 3-minute walk to Betsy Paterson Square.
- 1 A basket of Pride pins with a sign encouraging folks to take a free pin
- 2 A person waves a Pride flag-themed folding fan and smiles at the camera
- 3 Two teenagers dance exuberantly on the lawn of Betsy Paterson Square, their backs are to the camera
- 4 Three friends stand together, smiling; the center friend has a shirt that says "Love Is Love"
- 5 A young person poses in front of a "selfie station" as their grown up takes their photo
- 6 A woman holds a Pride flag in each hand as you stands next to a table with a banner that says Human
- 7 A young person smiles for the camera, their shirt says "Gender is a social construct"
- 8 Three Parks & Rec staff members sit at a table and smile at the camera
- 9 Eight paper plates full of different types of bracelets sit on a table with rolls of Pride stickers
- 10 A man and a woman stand together and smile for the camera; he holds a Pride flag
- 11 Children's books are on display on a table on Betsy Paterson Square
- 12 People smile as they staff information tables on Betsy Paterson Square
- 13 2024 Celebrate Pride13
- 14 A woman sits at an outdoor table with two young children on either side, all smiling at the camera
Add some LGBTQIA2S+ inclusive books to your summer reading list with these suggestions available at the Mansfield Public Library and the Mansfield Youth Services office:
Youth
- Mama and Mommy and Me in the Middle by Nina LaCour (Library)
- Adventures with My Daddies by Gareth Peter (Library)
- Prince & Knight and Maiden & Princess by Daniel Haack (Library)
- Calvin by JR and Vanessa Ford (Library)
- My Rainbow by Trinity and DeShanna Neal (Library)
- Grandad's Camper and Grandad's Pride by Harry Woodgate (Library)
- The Family Book by Todd Parr (Library & Youth Services)
- Neither by Airlie Anderson (Library & Youth Services)
- My Princess Boy by Cheryl Kilodavis (Library & Youth Services)
- And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson (Library & Youth Services)
- I am Jazz! by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings (Library & Youth Services)
- Pride: the Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag by Rob Sanders (Library)
- Stonewall: A Building, An Uprising, A Revolution by Rob Sanders (Library)
- Who Are You? The Kid's Guide to Gender Identity by Brook Pessin-Whedbee (Youth Services)
- "Pink is a Girl Color" and Other Silly Things People Say by Stacy Drageset (Library & Youth Services)
- Queer Heroes by Arabelle Sicardi (Library)
- A Child's Introduction to Pride: The Inspirational History and Culture of the LGBTQIA+ Community by Sarah Prager (Library)
- If You're a Kid Like Gavin by Gavin Grimm & Kyle Lukoff (Library)
- It Feels Good to be Yourself : A Book About Gender Identity by Theresa Thorn (Library)
- This is Our Rainbow: 16 Stories of Her, Him, Them, and Us edited by Katherine Locke and Nicole Melleby (Library)
- Melissa, Rick, and Alice Austen Lived Here by Alex Gino (Library)
- King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender (Library)
Teen/Young Adult
- The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen (Library)
- Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender (Library)
- She Gets the Girl by Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick (Library)
- The Girl from the Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag
- Heartstopper series by Alice Oseman (Library)
- Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People who Changed the World by Sarah Prager (Youth Services)
- The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester by Maya MacGregor (Library)
- Other Ever Afters: New Queer Fairy Tales by Melanie Gillman (Library)
- Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo (Library)
- The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer (Library)
- Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian (Library)
- Flamer by Mike Curato (Library)
- Pet by Akwaeke Emezi (Library)
Adult Fiction
- This is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel (Library)
- Call Me by Your Name by André Aciman (Library)
- Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe (Library)
- Marry Me a Little: A Graphic Memoir by Rob Kirby (Library)
- In the Dream House: A Memoir by Carmen Maria Machado (Library)
- People of Pride: 25 Great LGBTQ Americans by Chase Clemesha (Library)
- When We Rise: My Life in the Movement by Cleve Jones (Library)
- Eleanor and Hick: The Love Affair that Shaped a First Lady by Susan Quinn (Library)
- Stuck in the Middle with You: A Memoir of Parenting in Three Genders by Jennifer Finney Boylan (Library)
- One Life by Megan Rapinoe (Library)
- How We Fight for Our Lives: A Memoir by Saeed Jones (Library)
- Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington by James Kirchick (Library)
- They/ Them/ Their: A Guide to Nonbinary & Genderqueer Identities by Eris Young (Library)
- Raising LGBTQ Allies: A Parent's Guide to Changing the Messages from the Playground by Chris Tompkins (Library)
Follow the Mansfield Public Library on Facebook and Instagram for more reading suggestions all month long.
Resources Available for our LGTBQIA2S+ Residents & Allies
MY Pride:
Mansfield Youth Pride (MY Pride) group is open to Mansfield residents in grades 5-8 who are part of the LGBTQIA+ rainbow (and allies are welcome too).
MY Pride emphasizes self-empowerment, positive youth development, and building strong peer and community connections to validate and celebrate our diverse identities.
Please contact the Youth Services Department for more information about MY Pride.
E.O. Smith GSA
Please contact Mx.C Lin & Mrs A. Nocton for information about this group for high school students.
Mansfield Human Rights Commission
Read more about the Mansfield Human Rights Commission here.
UConn Rainbow Center
The Rainbow Center’s mission is to operate in the service of a more equitable world for all students, faculty, and staff at the University of Connecticut. Using an intersectional lens, we center our work on advocating for, and increasing education, access, retention, identity development, and community-building for queer- and trans-spectrum communities. Visit their website for more information and resources.
ECSU Pride Center
The Pride Center at Eastern Connecticut State University actively works to create a campus culture that acknowledges and values diverse gender identities, gender expressions, and sexualities through educational outreach, community building, and providing access to resources. Learn more here.
- Gender Spectrum works to create gender sensitive and inclusive environments for all children and teens.
- The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning youth.
- The mission of the It Gets Better Project is to uplift, empower, and connect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) youth around the globe.
- GLSEN: Championing LGBTQ issues in K-12 education since 1990. GLSEN works to ensure that LGBTQ students are able to learn and grow in a school environment free from bullying and harassment. Together we can transform our nation's schools into the safe and affirming environment all youth deserve.
- The Human Rights Campaign envisions a world where every member of the LGBTQ family has the freedom to live their truth without fear, and with equality under the law. We empower our 3 million members and supporters to mobilize against attacks on the most marginalized people in our community.
- GLAAD: Leading the conversation. Shaping the media narrative. Changing the culture. That's GLAAD at work.
- The Family Acceptance Project® is a research, intervention, education and policy initiative to prevent health and mental health risks for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer-identified (LGBTQ) children and youth, including suicide, homelessness, drug use and HIV — in the context of their families, cultures and faith communities. We use a research-based, culturally grounded approach to help ethnically, racially and religiously diverse families learn to support their LGBTQ children.
- "Ultimate Guide to Resources for LGBTQ+ Students" - This collection of resources was recommended by a resident who found it helpful for their child.
- Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity - A collection of resources put out by the National Association of Social Workers
Learn more
Continue learning about the history of Pride and the LGBTQIA2S+ experience in the United States with these resources:
Stonewall Forever: Interactive online, history of the original Stonewall Riots and ongoing stories from LGBTQ folx. People can learn and add their own LGBTQ stories and history
Gilbert Baker Foundation: History of the rainbow flag and its creator. Oral history projects. Stories of Gilbert Baker
GLBT Historical Society: Curated content of LBTQ history