Pride in Full Stride 

On the heels of Pride celebrations in Eureka and Redway earlier this month, Lost Coast Pride's celebration of the LGBTQ+ community stretched out over the weekend of June 24 and 25. Saturday's festivities began at the Arcata Plaza, where a modest caravan of decorated vehicles took off, horns honking, headed to Fortuna's Rohner Park. There, friends and families gathered for a picnic.

On Sunday, a crowd of hundreds of colorfully dressed marchers and musicians assembled in front of the Old Steeple for a noon Pride parade down Ferndale's Main Street. In a white sailor cap and merman Hawaiian shirt, holding his service dog Sable, LCP founder Kaelan Rivera welcomed the crowd and instructed those assembled not to "engage with idiots" should hecklers or counter-protesters appear. "This is a protest," he'd said earlier, commenting that the vocal anti-LGBTQ+ groups have galvanized supporters and brought out far more marchers than last year's event. The parade route curved around St. Mark's Lutheran Church, where a strip of lawn was posted with an array of anti-gay and anti-trans signs in Pride colors.

Storefronts were dotted here and there with rainbows, flags and balloons in support of the marchers, who carried signs ranging from earnest to playful: "Love Thy Queer Neighbor," "Stand Up for Queer Kids, Stand Up for Each Other," "Can't Pray Away This Gay," "Protect Trans Youth," "The Only Thing I'm Confused About Is Capitalism," "My Trans Joy is Unstoppable," "Queer Liberation Now" and, accompanied by a drawing of a little winged and red-eyed monster, "Mothman Eats Transphobes."

Those with disabilities set the pace for the march up front, followed by marching musicians and their rainbow-fringed bandleader. Interspersed members of Queer Humboldt, the Eureka Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and other LGBTQ+ groups carried banners and flags alongside marchers of all ages. The trailing finale was a convertible carrying the waving Vivienne Vidette, whose long rainbow cape faithful attendants held off the asphalt all the way to Firemen's Park.

At the park, some 30 vendors offered treats, jewelry, herbal tinctures, clothing and gifts, while local organizations like the Raven Project shared information on resources for LGBTQ+ youth and adults. Photographer Jose Quezada and Journal staff captured highlights of the weekend for the Journal.