At this point I’m right about in the middle of my Pride season. There are a lot more Pride events left. With Spokane Pride in the rearview mirror, I look forward to my favorite time of year, the Pride Tour, and the Inland Northwest has not disappointed so far.
We started with Coeur D’Alene Pride on June 6th, a wonderfully organized snapshot of what it means to be progressive, and open and affirming in northern Idaho. It was a beautiful melding of music, joy, food trucks, and vendors. The protest action at this event was almost an afterthought as they seemed to get tired after about 90 minutes and depart sheepishly, a huge juxtaposition from the drama several years ago. We also assisted with starting Pullman Pride this same day, which had wonderful live music and captured the queer life of this college town.
The next weekend of June 12/13th was our big weekend, Spokane Pride, a day only punctuated by the fact that there was no end to the joy and adulation of our gathered community, beautifully melding with LGBTQ2+ populations from all around our region. I’ve done a lot of Prides, and am hyper motivated to have this opinion, but I truly believe that our community came together to create the most joyful weekend that Spokane has ever seen, full stop. Everywhere you went, you just shared happiness, dancing, drag, singing, and the unbounded expression of people's true and unadulterated nature. I am so proud of how our city and region showed up. The very first block party at our only gay bar was just a cherry on top.
Our next Pride was in Creston, British Columbia, just over the border near Bonners Ferry. Creston was a delightful town and had an even more delightful collection of people making up their community. It was their first Pride ever in the city limits and brought in three times the number of attendees versus any previous year’s Pride events in that area. We helped run their main event and their after party and met talented performers from all around the Kootenai region.
We have also been to Pride in Perry in Spokane, a neighborhood Pride put on by Odyssey Youth movement. This is a special event, just as the Perry district is such a wonderful neighborhood. There were bands, aerial artists, drag performers, youth activities, and much more.
The second weekend of July brought Pride in Sandpoint Idaho, another wonderful weekend. Sandpoint Alliance For Equality (SAFE) really knows how to put on an event. They have several professional event people facilitating its production leaving me to mostly lug around tent weights and put up massive blow-up rainbows (our usual offering of assistance is sound tech and production) in addition to getting their after party set up. There was an incredible outpouring of community from all around the area. Such a beautiful city with an equally beautiful Pride.
July 18th was Lincoln County Pride in Libby Montana. This event had new organizers this year, so I got to meet an entirely new crew and they were wonderful! They hit the ground running and rainbowed the massive event center at the center of Libby as good as it ever had been. They took a different approach to programming than most Prides and had many community members speak about the importance of Pride in their community. They even had me come up and spew a few paragraphs about all the rural Prides I’ve helped with. It was a special weekend because I’ve seen leadership transitions be the end of rural Prides, but not in Northwest Montana, the Northwest Montana Queer Alliance will Pride on!
Now, back in Spokane we are gearing up for the 3rd annual Garland Pride on Aug 22nd and our very first Hillyard Pride on Sept 19th. We are especially excited to queer up Hillyard in light of certain businesses' reprehensible signage. We also have ‘Pride Camp’ coming up from Sept 25th through the 28th where we are taking over a church camp on Lake Coeur D’Alene. I like to joke that we are gathering to get over the scars received at church camps growing up, because it is partially true. With these gatherings comes connections, and with connections comes healing. Also, Palouse Pride in Moscow is the last weekend of August, and LC Valley Pride on the second weekend on September.
One of the great things about doing what I do is making friends and connections with other ‘Pride People’ around the Inland Northwest. This event and many of the others I do are alive with those connections. Connections based on a devotion to created spaces of universal love and equality in defiance of such institutionalized hate. Seeing these communities come together in joy and activism is what drives me forward every day.
Thank you and HAPPY PRIDE!!!
Visit the comprehensive listing of Pacific Northwest Pride events at: https://www.stonewallnews.net/stonewall-pride-guide-to-105-pnw-pride-events-in-wa-or-id-and-mt/
Visit the Spokane Pride website at: https://www.spokanepride.org/
