Wenatchee Passes Pride Proclamation

June is officially Pride Month in the city of Wenatchee.

The Wenatchee City Council convened last night to discuss miscellaneous issues. Many of the topics broached at the meeting - vandalism, homelessness - were uncomfortable and weighty. But we shouldn't discount the one glimmer of what many would consider unalloyed positivity: Pride Month.

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Councilwoman At-Large Linda Herald read aloud the triumphant proclamation, which was written in first-person by Mayor Mike Poirier. The proclamation began by recounting the painful historical origins of Pride Month, which exists primarily to commemorate the Stonewall uprising of 1969.

(Also at the City Council meeting on Thursday was Kelsey Riggs, the self-effacing president of Wenatchee Pride. His remarks were brief but upbeat and effusively grateful for city government.)

The Stonewall uprising can only be described as a permanent blight on authorities in New York City. Police there violently raided the Stonewall Inn, a Greenwich Village drinking establishment frequented by gay men. Employees and patrons alike were assaulted.

Days of rioting ensued - and the LGBTQ+ movement was born.

More recently, Pride iconography has become an object of intense scorn. Municipal governments across the country have cracked down on the public display of Pride flags.

Meanwhile in Yakima, officials there rejected a Pride proclamation on May 21. A similar scenario played out the following week in Sunnyside, home of Republican congressman Dan Newhouse.

Speaking of federal officeholders, they too are sometimes fiercely disapproving of Pride symbolism, especially as it pertains to VA facilities.

The seventh annual Wenatchee Pride Festival takes place next Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., in Memorial Park. Click here to read up on participating vendors, sponsors, etc.