Speaker at We Belong Cape May County Pride rally, march calls for standing up to hate and bigotry, looking out for each other
OCEAN CITY — When Michael Hartman looked out at the 200 people gathered for the Pride rally and march hosted by We Belong Cape May County on June 1 on the Ocean City boardwalk, he knew he was not alone.
The 1998 Ocean City High School graduate, now the chief of staff for Pennsylvania state Sen. Carolyn T. Comitta, recalled what it was like when he was in high school, how the community has changed for the better and how they all should keep standing up to hate and bigotry while looking out for each other.
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In addition to his chief of staff role, Hartman is founder and artistic director of the Greater Ocean City Theatre Company. He was the featured speaker for the second annual We Belong CMC rally and march for the LGBTQIA+ community.
Hartman told the crowd that he struggled to find his own identity and felt alone because of bullying incidents when he was in high school, but felt the love and sense of community when he looked over the crowd that gathered before the Saturday morning march. He wished he could have gone back and told his younger self to believe in himself and to focus on those who loved him and to know that he was not alone.
Hartman told those in the crowd who might be young or young at heart, who aren’t comfortable with themselves and don’t feel safe, to know they are not alone, to look out at all of the faces to see that people are fighting with them and for them.
There is “an entire tribe” ready to lift them up so they can soar to their fullest potential.
He said that after he went to West Chester University and accepted his “true self,” he was told he could never come back to the conservative community of Ocean City because he is gay, that he could never work in a profession around children.
That was in the face of school boards and communities across the country “demonizing” the LGBTQIA+ community through “false narratives” in an agenda built on division and hate.
He did come back. He founded the theater company, which has had “thousands” of kids going through its education and theater programs over the past 17 years, worked for the city in the recreation department and as the special events coordinator.
And, pointing to the change in the resort, said the city lit up the Ninth Street causeway with rainbow lights to help celebrate his marriage to his husband, Jon Kreamer.
He told the crowd his journey now includes his work in the Pennsylvania Legislature toward pro-LGBTQIA+ legislation.
He reminded everyone that as they stood on the boardwalk in America’s Greatest Family Resort that tolerance, acceptance and love are family values and the values at the foundation of the American dream.
He said it was their “duty” to stand up for each other, live and love as their authentic selves, to support vulnerable young people “just like little Michael Hartman on that track in gym class,” create safe environments and stand up for their transgender neighbors facing a barrage of hate and violence.
He called on parents to teach their children about the beauty of diversity and he thanked those who embrace their children with unconditional love.
Hartman did caution that acceptance goes both ways and that Christians are taught to love their neighbors. Despite wanting change instantly, that there must be time to bring people around, to give them space for their evolution. He also called on them to vote.
Those at the rally, he said, are at the heart of Pride Month, representing how far they’ve come and how they will never go back.
Looking back on the march and rally, Hartman said in retrospect it felt surreal because he didn’t expect the magnitude of the second annual event, following a successful inaugural Pride rally and march last year.
In many ways, he said, he found closure over “demons that still haunt me from my high school years and growing up in Ocean City and coming into who I am.”
Being asked to be the speaker was a huge honor, “therapeutic” and very special for his entire family.
“I saw a tribe of humans of all ages, all walks of life. I saw people I didn’t expect to be part of something like this in Ocean City. I saw young people, allies. It was a tribe filled of all different types of people but united together,” Hartman said.
He thanked We Belong Cape May County for building the strong sense “of a community of people united in love.”
He believes Ocean City has “changed drastically” since his time in high school with a level of acceptance that previously didn’t exist. He was “really touched” to see an outpouring of churches at the rally and march in a resort founded in many ways on religion.
He believes the acceptance around the world and around the country of the LGBTQIA+ community has been better for the “L and the G and the B, but unfortunately I still see a lot of hate and manipulation of the transgender community and lack of acceptance of that alphabet acronym there. I’m seeing that go backward.”
Hartman believes that with LGBTQIA+ rights and other issues, people are best served when they stop, listen and engage with each other, learn from each other. He also believes people, including those in elected office, should not use hateful, ignorant language or poorly thought out remarks.
“It’s really just so disheartening and sends us on a path backward and further promotes division,” he said.
Working in the Pennsylvania Legislature, he said those who are the most successful are the ones who can convene conversations, bring everyone together, who listen and understand they’re never going to agree with everyone.
Hartman said a reason he has been successful in Ocean City is that he is not confrontational, but “gentle. I’m going to win them over. My love is sometimes stronger … because of the adversity I had to go through.”
– By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff