Long Island Pride returns to Huntington Sunday. Thousands are expected to gather to celebrate its 34th year with a parade and festival.

Organizers say 2024 will be the biggest year yet. The festival in Heckscher Park will be packed with vendors, an hourslong show with multiple performers and an area for families with bounce houses.

New faces will be along the parade route, too.

One of the grand marshals is Tameka Mays, a detective sergeant with the Suffolk Police Department working within the organization to make sure everyone in uniform and out of it knows the department is an accepting place.

She will be marching with her family.

Mays explained, "I hope it opens their eyes to see that we are present. We are visible within the police department, and we exist no matter if you want to be a police officer or have a family member."

Scouting America, formerly Boy Scouts of America will join the parade route for the first time ever.

Lisa Schlossberg a unit commissioner with Scouting America said, "I want to make sure that the community, that the youth know that there’s a place in Scouting for everybody regardless of their gender, orientation, interests— we have something for everybody."

Long Island Pride returns to Huntington on the heels of a resolution being passed to form a LGBTQ+ Task Force in the town.

Council Member Theresa Mari with Town of Huntington shared, "The goal of it is to make sure everyone in our community feels included."

She said the resolution came about after learning her legislative secretary, Phillip Griffin, struggled to find a place to belong when he came out at 13.

"When you’re a young age and you come out, you’re likely to face a lot of challenges. I wasn’t an exception to that," Griffin said.

The parade begins on Sunday at 12 p.m. at the intersection of Clinton Avenue and Main Street in Huntington Village.

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