Gay pride comes to Lynn

LYNN – More than 100 people attended downtown Lynn’s first gay-pride event Saturday in what organizers and attendees say they hope is the first of many events that will bond the gay community and spur Lynn’s revitalization.People from Greater Lynn, the North Shore and even Boston drank cocktails, ate barbecue and chatted with each other Saturday afternoon as music blared from speakers and rainbow balloons swayed in the cool breeze flowing through the courtyard of the Lynn Museum.Attendance exceeded expectations because a thriving gay community in Lynn has lacked a place to congregate outside of a few choice bars, said one of the event’s organizers, Kevin Sampson.”We’re trying to really create that,” said Sampson, who lives in downtown Lynn with his husband and is on the board of directors of Arts After Hours, a downtown-based nonprofit that sponsored the event.A chance to socialize is why Lynn resident Robin Tobin showed up Saturday. Tobin said she’s beyond going to the bars, so she rarely has a chance to meet up with fellow gays and lesbians.View a photo gallery.”Not too much happens down here for the gay community,” she said.Sampson said he hopes the success of Saturday’s event will create enthusiasm for a Lynn-based lesbian and gay organization that can hold more gatherings.”I’m trying to build more momentum so that next year we can continue this and have a bigger event,” he said.Sampson said Lynn’s gay pride event also comes at the cusp of another movement in Lynn: the downtown’s revitalization.He said more young gay professionals are moving into lofts like his downtown. That could create an opportunity for Lynn similar to what happened in a once-dangerous, now gay-friendly South End neighborhood in Boston.”The South End used to be what it used to be, and I think a lot of new people are coming in and they have events like this and they make activity happen, and I think Lynn has the potential for that,” he said, citing the economic, artistic and cultural development that has made the South End a destination. ” ? I think the gay community is good at doing that.”Lynn residents Sunil Gulab and Tom Powers said they would love to see that kind of revitalization in Lynn and think the gay community could be a part of it.The two friends said they rarely invite their Salem counterparts to come to Lynn to socialize.”We’re waiting for the revitalization of Lynn,” Gulab said.But that hasn’t happened yet, said Powers.”In general, the downtown hasn’t taken to revitalization,” he said.But the city has potential, said Bob Soucy of Salem, who pointed out that a restaurant like The Blue Ox on Oxford street is constantly packed with people.He and Powers and Gulab and their friends would have no problem patronizing another like it that opened up, he said.”Lynn can support another fine restaurant,” Soucy said.Soucy’s husband, Bob Allen, remarked that the courtyard the group was standing in outside the Lynn Museum is an example of another hidden gem that can spur revitalization.”It’s a beautiful space, I never knew Lynn had this,” he said.The venue for Saturday’s event also surprised Ketch Anderson, who came up to Lynn from Newton to attend.”This is really a neat facility,” he said.Anderson said he’s tired of visiting the same gay hangouts in Boston and was excited to gather in a different setting.”I just wanted a different mix of people,” he said.An eclectic crowd is what Powers said he hopes will define Lynn’s burgeoning gay community.”I doesn’t matter if you’re gay, it doesn’t matter if you’re straight, we’re just all celebrating being here,” he said.And perhaps next year, they’ll be celebrating in a much bigger party in Central Square, he said.Amber Parcher may be reached at aparcher@itemlive com