PORTLAND, Ore. — For over 40 years, pride has been celebrated in Portland to recognize lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ+) communities. This year, the annual celebration was moved to July, a month later than usual, to prevent overlapping with other significant cultural events in the Rose City.
“We have often been placed in a position of being seen as 'competing' with other community celebrations," said Pride Northwest' Executive Director Debra Porta.
Portland is event heavy in the spring and summer, and moving weekends wasn't an option because there were no available alternative dates for the Waterfront Park, according to a news release from Pride Northwest.
In the month of June — LGBTQ+ Pride Month — Juneteenth and the Delta Park Pow Wow celebrations have always been held almost at the same time with Portland Pride Waterfront Festival. Last year's Pride festival overlapped with Juneteenth, which Pride Northwest honored during its events.
"Although we work on the backend to build relationships and support diverse identities within the LGBTQIA2S+ community, at the end of the day, none of us really have the opportunity to support each other's celebrations in truly meaningful ways, or proactively build toward an environment that empowers LGBTQIA2S+ people to express themselves without the perception that they are being asked to choose between the various parts of themselves," said Porta.
The Portland Pride Waterfront festival will be held this weekend, July 15-16, with the Portland Pride Parade being held on Sunday.
For more information visit portlandpride.org.
