Jun. 23—The atmosphere brimmed with festive energy.

Loud, thumping music impelled hips to sway. Smiles and animated conversations could be seen beneath the bunting of small rainbow flags in the grassy, outdoor venue.

But one noticeable thing was missing at much of the dance intended to kick off Santa Fe’s Pride Week: dancing.

Then, about 90 minutes in, to the ebullient strains of Madonna’s “Get into the Groove,” a dozen people broke into dance, with several jumping onto the small floor.

The party had begun.

Guests said they came to this Sunday event at The Mystic Santa Fe on Cerrillos Road to celebrate living in a city where members of the LGBTQ+ community feel free to express themselves, love who they want and be safe.

“In Santa Fe, it doesn’t matter,” said Scott Palmer, 56, a recent Washington, D.C., transplant, speaking about the city’s acceptance.

None of those interviewed said they had fled intolerant red states or cities. They had come from liberal cities where diversity is embraced but enjoyed experiencing an LGBTQ+ community on a smaller scale.

“It’s easier to get to know people here,” said Palmer, who moved to Santa Fe six weeks ago with his partner, Mark Abe, 62.

There have been several events in the run-up to Pride Week, which will culminate Saturday with Pride on the Plaza, a parade and community celebration. This dance, which brought together about 60 people of varying ages, was the official starting gun.

It’s all part of the larger Pride Month, which commemorates the Stonewall Uprising in New York in June 1969 after police raided a prominent gay bar in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. Six days of protests are credited with spurring the modern gay rights movement that later evolved into full LGBTQ+ activism.

Despite Santa Fe being historically rooted in Catholic teachings, which disapprove of homosexuality and nonbinary identities, partygoers said they’d never encountered even the slightest animosity in the city.

Here you don’t have to hide in the shadows, as many people now must do in certain states, said Lisa, 66, who didn’t want to give her last name.

“You can gather in safety and joy and party,” she said.

Renewed attacks on LGBTQ+ people in many states make it more important to unite during Pride Month, even if Santa Fe is removed from such hostility, said Kevin Bowen, executive director of the Santa Fe Human Rights Alliance, which sponsors the events.

New Mexico as a whole might seem insulated from such politicized hatred, but people most not become complacent, Bowen said.

“As a community in this state, we need to be vigilant to make sure that we don’t just sit back and say, ‘Oh, it’s safe, we don’t have to worry about anything,’ ” Bowen said. “It’s not. At any moment, something could change.”

The most dramatic change — and a terrible scenario for LGBTQ+ people — would be Donald Trump returning to the White House, he said.

Palmer and Abe recalled when homophobia was commonplace in the U.S., enough so that President Bill Clinton had to withdraw his proposal to allow openly gay people to serve in the military in the 1990s, instead going with the watered-down “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

Then in 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage, making LGBTQ+ advocates hopeful America was becoming more accepting.

But these gains stirred a backlash, one that grew more widespread as ultra-conservative political leaders and right-wing activist groups like Moms for Liberty sought to ban books with LGBTQ+ themes in public and school libraries. They’ve also pushed to bar kids from using pronouns other than the ones they’re born with.

Also, a couple of Supreme Court justices have made rumblings about repealing the court’s earlier same-sex ruling.

“We had mad so much progress, and now the fascists are trying to take over again,” Lisa said.

Abe, who’s Asian American, said he’s not surprised bigotry of every sort surged under Trump, given the former president’s hateful rhetoric.

Palmer agreed, saying Trump didn’t create bigotry, but he mainstreamed it.

In Santa Fe, some people have observed a divide between younger and older members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Bowen said there are some generational differences, but overall they all have more in common than they might realize.

Yes, the younger folks are able to be freer and more open about their sexuality than older generations were, but now many of the kids are under aggressive attack, depending on where they live, he said. They are vilified, and some have been physically assaulted.

“We are moving backward,” Bowen said.

He said his hope is events like this dance will bring people of different ages together so they can bond with shared experiences.

Hayley Gajewski, 29, who moved from San Diego a year ago, said she thinks the a generation gap is broad, and not limited to the LGBTQ+ community.

Young people are frustrated with the lack of nightclubs and other entertainment in Santa Fe and blame older people because everything here seems to revolve around them, she said.

That doesn’t mean, however, the different age groups can’t hang out at events like this and talk about what it’s like to be gay or transgender, she said.

“As long as there is a level of respect,” she said. “Then everyone can have fun.”