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LOUDOUNNOW.COM
JUNE 30, 2022
about. We will follow your lead and talk about the things that are important to you. We are here to support you in every single way possible.” Equality Loudoun also presented scholarships to four students and its second annual Pride in Our Community Award to Connie Rice. “Connie has been a representative of our community for over a decade. She has been killing it. She has been helping the corporate world rewrite the rules around LTBQ+ inclusivity and this is our most honorable award for her years of service and activism,” Tuck said in presenting the award.
‘Balance the Narrative’ Loudoun Pride, Tuck said before the event, is meant to be especially family-friendly. “We know throughout the nation a lot of pride event are aimed at older teenagers and adults. Loudoun County and our board is a family-friendly community. Most of our board either has children, are parents, or work with families, so we wanted to make this whole event as family friendly as possible,” Tuck said. With seven hours of music from six different artists from Tennessee, North Carolina, Maryland and Loudoun on the schedule, plus a Drag Queen Story Hour
with drag queens reading kid-friendly LGBTQ stories and guest speakers including lawmakers, it was also scheduled to be one of the biggest music festivals of the summer, although latter portions of the event were rained out. “It’s an inaugural event not only for Equality Loudoun but for Loudoun County, and we took it as an opportunity—given the climate, the rhetoric we’re having right now—to foster good will and balance the narrative,” said Equality Loudoun Vice President Samantha Clarke. She said the goal was to be “inclusive, family friendly, celebratory, educational.” “I think the loudest voices get the most attention, but I don’t think they’re representing the community as a whole,” she said. “So I think an event like this helps to do that, and it helps to call in those individuals, whether they’re part of the LGBTQ community and our allies, it allow them a safe space to have their voices heard as well.” “The last two years have been incredibly difficult,” Tuck said. “We know that over the pandemic there has been a surge in the number of kids and adult that have come out and come to grips with their identity, and being forced back into school and work environments has been really detrimental for a lot of them.” But he also said young people are driving that conversation. “These kids know a lot more than we do. We’re learning as we go along, and that’s an important part, I think, of the overall narrative,” Tuck said. “This generation is pushing things forward in a way that no generation has before. They understand that equality means more than just lip service.” n
areas, and we have attracted interest,” he said, pointing to developments like Loudoun Station and plans like Rivana at Innovation Station, a planned 103-acre mixed-use development. “I think it’s coming together, and we want to, as a county, diversify. And it was no different back in 2012,” he said. “We did not have the extent of data center revenue then that we have now, but the desire back then and the discussion was about diversifying the economy, and now it’s even more important because we’ve talked a lot about how reliant we are on data centers.” Loudoun County government also is preparing its bus transit system. When Metro service in Loudoun begins, Loudoun County Transit will provide bus routes to and from the Metrorail stations.
More information, including about Metro station parking and bus service to Silver Line stations, is online at loudoun. gov/silverline. “I am thrilled the project is moving forward toward opening to the public,” stated County Chair Phyllis J. Randall (D-At Large). “Loudoun is ready to see our investment in this project pay off as Loudoun becomes connected to the region by Metro. In addition, we are excited to welcome new tourist and visitors from the Washington, D.C. area to Loudoun.” The first phase of the Silver Line opened in July 2014, adding five new Metro stations, reaching to Wiehle-Reston East Station in Fairfax. The second phase connects Metro to Herndon, Dulles Airport, and two stops in Loudoun, with rails in the median
of the Dulles Greenway. Maryland and Virginia senators hailed the milestone in a joint statement, include Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) who helped broker the deal with Metro, the airports authority, the state and local governments during his time as Virginia’s governor. “Today’s news takes us one big step closer to our shared goal of ensuring that our transportation infrastructure is reliable, convenient, and capable of keeping up with the National Capital Region’s growth,” they wrote. “We welcome this development and encourage WMATA to safely and expeditiously put the finishing touches on this project so the Silver Line can fully open for customer service.” n
Loudoun pride continued from page 3 event. Supervisor Michael Turner (D-Ashburn), sporting rainbow suspenders, reflected on his service as an Air Force fighter pilot, recalling that he started each day asking why he and his colleagues were putting themselves at risk in a dangerous profession. “The reason we were doing that is exactly why we are here today. So that every American—man, woman and child— can go about their lives and pursue their dreams without fear of hatred, fear, anger, discrimination. They can stand up and be who they are any time they want to be that to feel the pride of being together with all other Americans in our society,” Turner said. County Chair Phyllis J. Randall (D-At Large) said the board stands ready to provide support as needed. “All of us on this stage will follow your community, and you tell us what is important. If you tell us it is important to you for us to talk about the fact that 50% of trans kids either consider suicide or attempt suicide, that is what we will talk about. If it is important to you that we talk about the fact that yesterday Clarence Thomas actually said we may want to discuss whether gay marriage—oh by the way also just called marriage—is something that they will roll back the rights of, that’s what we will talk about. If it is important to you to talk about whether or not we should have a sister city on the continent of Africa when their LBGTQ polices are so horrible, that’s what we will talk
Silver Line continued from page 1 Silver Line hasn’t really changed. “It really is similar to what we discussed back then, and I think some of it’s come to fruition,” he said. He said the 2012 projections for revenues from the tax districts established to pay for the Silver Line have been amazingly accurate. And the Board of Supervisors has been laying the groundwork for the development the Silver Line is expected to attract once it’s open. “The board did a lot of work on zoning to sort of create a way forward to higher density, transit-oriented development that would feature mixed-use to occur in these
Norman K. Styer/Loudoun Now
Supervisor Michael Turner addresses the crowd during the 2022 Loudoun Pride Festival on Sunday at Claude Moore Park.
