A love letter to Provincetown and Family Week

“All of these families look like ours!” That’s what my 10-year-old excitedly shared with my wife and me as we were walking hand-in-hand down Commercial St. in Provincetown, Mass. It was 2014, and we had traveled there from our home in Indiana for our first time at Family Week, a week-long event for LGBTQ+ families hosted by national nonprofit Family Equality.While my family and I had been to Provincetown as part of a New England cruise in the late aughts, that visit only lasted a limited number of hours and it wasn’t during Family Week. We had no idea what kind of magic was ahead for us on our trip to Family Week years later.That magic started as we rounded the tip of Long Point Beach on the ferry from Boston to Provincetown for our very first Family Week. As we came around the tip of Cape Cod and the quaint fishing town came into view, we knew it was going to be a special week.Provincetown, built on the ancestral land of the Wampanoag and Nauset tribes, is full of rich history, art galleries, cozy coffee shops, and delicious restaurants. There’s no Starbucks or McDonald’s — chain businesses generally don’t fit the charm of the town. Throughout its history, it has been a haven for fishermen, Portuguese immigrants, creatives, artists, writers, and LGBTQ+ folks. Today, the community continues to be a welcoming place, and that was apparent as soon as I stepped off the ferry.Immediately, my wife and I felt safe to hold hands while walking down the street — something we still don’t do, even after 28 years together, in our Indiana community. In Provincetown, people don’t bat an eye at two women holding hands or two dads and their kids in coordinating outfits or a drag queen on a scooter promoting their show that evening – I’m looking at you, Miss Richfield!The vibe of Provincetown — also affectionately known as Ptown — is exactly what makes it the best place for Family Week, now in its third decade and the largest annual gathering of LGBTQ+ f