I went to Portland Pride last month and it was amazing. The different elements of diversity the city offered were a very big change in environment than what I was accustomed to.
I was born in Idaho, and the state offers very little compared to bigger cities, in this case Portland. Don’t get me wrong, Idaho is still amazing — but the change in scenery was definitely quite different.
As the kind of person who only leaves the state to get groceries every so often, the amount of people who showed up to Portland Pride excited me.
Emily Pearce | Argonaut
Photo taken during June’s Portland Pride festival.
The Oregonian estimated 60,000 people showed up for the pride event, 12 times larger than my hometown. My Airbnb host joked that everyone and their dog showed up to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community and other diversity the parade supported. Erroneous, because her lovely corgi Cooper wasn’t able to attend.
Over five blocks in Downtown Portland were full of booths, organizations and people lined up to participate in the parade. This was not the length the parade went, but the people and organizations that were participating.
The parade was three hours of pure support from all communities.
Emily Pearce | Argonaut
Of course, there were advocates for LGBT rights and organizations like the lesbian choir, queer choir and transgender rights groups. There were also people marching for the representation of different communities in Portland. The Native community marched as well, as people against pollution, littering and climate change.
A variety of banks, airlines and different companies participated in the parade. Even the Portland Police had a part in the parade. It was nice to see so many people come together.
The area where the pride parade was held, the heart of Portland, was a great location for anyone who wanted to get a feel for the city. As this was my first time going to Portland, I was very pleased and could say that I fell in love during the four days I was there.
Whenever I think of big cities, I expect people to be cold and nonchalant.
The LGBT community and those at the event also helped my view of the people of Portland, leading a kind, well-rounded example.
The diversity of the city, character of the event and the people helped make my pride memorable. It was light-hearted, fun, and educational — just the way anyone’s pride should be.
Pride itself also goes into a deeper sense of its denotation and history.
isn’t just for the LGBT community. It is for anyone who feels underrepresented in the past. A new addition to the pride flag — the colors black and brown —show that pride also represents people of color and any sort of group who has felt injustice.
This experience I had during Portland Pride shows how fortunate I am to live in such a proactive era. As a country, we have come so far in the representation of minorities, and pride shows just how important it can be.
Although we still have a long way to go, events like pride show our progress in contrast of what things used to be.
I loved the way that Portland’s diversity and unapologetic quirkiness dictated the time I had, but it wouldn’t be without the pride of learning to be myself, including my sexuality, to make it such an unforgettable experience.
Emily Pearce can be reached at [email protected]