Just outside the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex Saturday, about 200 people donning colorful clothes and waving rainbow flags line up for Soldotna Pride’s Two-Spirit March. The large group walks along Kalifornsky Beach Road, then onto the Sterling Highway to Soldotna Creek Park. Motorists cruising by honk and wave.
The march is the start of the day's festivities. Waiting for the group at the park are several queer-freindly vendors, food trucks, performers and more. Joe Spady is a member of the Soldotna Pride council.
“I think it’s such a vital event for this community," he said. "Growing up in this community, I’ve seen how much it’s changed. I feel like Pride is a really loud demonstration on how much we’ve grown and changed as a community to be more loving and affirming to young queer kids and queer people of all ages.”
The annual Pride in the Park event stemmed from the Kenaitze Indian Tribe’s Two-Spirit March in 2018, which was part of its anti-suicide campaign. Although it’s now run by the Soldotna Pride organization, its message of queer visibility and belonging on the Kenai Peninsula has stayed the same.
“Part of our goal is to help the youth, and help the youth realize that there’s not just one way to exist in this world,” said Leslie Byrd, a member of the Soldotna Pride council. “We have had at least two youth suicides in this area from students that I personally knew, who killed themselves because they didn’t think there was any other way. They were ashamed of their sexuality, and they didn’t have people in their lives that were willing to stand up, help them and support them unconditionally, so that’s what we’re here for.”
To attendees of Saturday’s celebration, Pride has personalized meaning. For some, it’s about accepting themselves or supporting loved ones who are queer. For others, it’s about coexisting peacefully with all people, even those who may not support the LGBTQ community.
“Pride is just embracing who you are, it doesn’t matter what you bring to the table," said Jennifer Sutton of Soldotna. "Everybody is special and loved, and awesome in their own way.”
“For me, Pride is about legacy," said Tobias Wilson of Soldotna. "It’s about recognizing and celebrating my own community.”
“It means togetherness," said Svetlana Landt of Kenai. "As the Dena’ina word ‘ada,’ love, care, tenderness.”
“It’s an amazing opportunity for people to exercise and see their right to free speech, their freedom of expression, their freedom of assembly and their freedom to love who we love,” said Casady Herding of Kenai.
While past LGBTQ-oriented events in Soldotna have seen community backlash, few protestors were outside the park Saturday. Spady says there is a small group of people on the peninsula that are hostile toward the local queer community.
“In general, there’s a very vocal minority who likes to spread lies about our queer community, it’s really horrific and it’s not something that I think needs to be taken lightly," Spady said. "I think we need to address how awful that is and that level of hypocrisy coming from people. I’m so grateful, to constantly be reminded that our community is not that, our community is a loving, safe, supportive place. There are just some members of our community who are just really loud, we just need to be better at loving people louder than they can hate.”
To connect with Soldotna Pride, visit their Facebook page.
