Supporters ‘stand together’ at 11th annual pride event in Idaho Falls

IDAHO FALLS — Idaho Falls Pride kicked off the third day of its 11th annual celebration at the Snake River Greenbelt Riverwalk Saturday morning.

The festivities began with a parade around the greenbelt at 10 a.m. Vendors were set up on the north end of the greenbelt near the Idaho Falls Farmer’s Market. Watch highlights of the parade in the video above.

Development director Kelly McCary tells EastIdahoNews.com the theme for this year’s event is Standing Together.

“We’ve found that it’s really important for us all to take care of each other. As a community, we are much stronger when we support each other,” McCary says.

The first day of the festival began on Thursday with an Idaho Falls Chukars game. Attendees provided cash and food donations to the Idaho Falls Soup Kitchen. A drag show for those 18 and up was held on Friday at the Westbank Convention Center.

A variety of musical and speaking performances are taking place along the greenbelt until 5 p.m. Saturday.

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In the three years McCary has been involved in organizing the event, she says it’s gotten bigger every year. About 3,000 people attended last year’s event and she’s anticipating an even bigger turnout this year.

“It’s important to hold these events, mainly to have a safe space for the community to come together and fellowship. But also visibility is really important. When we’re visible to the rest of our community, people see that we’re your friends, your coworkers, your neighbors. We’re just like everybody else and we just want to live our lives and take care of each other,” says McCary.

One of the vendors at the Idaho Falls event was an organization called Dragon Dads, a support group for affirming fathers of queer kids. Utah native Drew Armstrong helped form the Facebook group in 2014. He and his team are actively involved in recruiting new members for the group throughout the year in Idaho and other states. The group has about 1,800 followers across the country, and it’s hoping to gain more followers in eastern Idaho.

Armstrong says many heterosexual dads have a difficult time if one of their kids comes out as gay or transgender, and the goal of Dragon Dads is to provide resources for fathers who are willing to accept and embrace their kids’ lifestyle, even if it conflicts with their personal beliefs.

“If (dads are not) affirming, they don’t belong,” Armstrong says. “Dads have a little machismo thing going on. If (they have a son who is gay), the kid might be a little more effeminate or sensitive, and it’s hard on dads.”

Armstrong recalls a recent experience at a pride event in Salt Lake City where a kid dressed in black came and sat in front of their booth. Though the boy was gay, Armstrong says he didn’t look like someone from that community. Armstrong says he sat and watched them for about 30 minutes before approaching them to ask a question.

“Are you guys gay?” the boy said, according to Armstrong.

“No, we’re not gay,” Armstrong said.

“Do you have gay kids?” the boy asked.

“Yes, that’s why we’re here,” replied Armstrong.

When the boy learned that Armstrong and his team were there to show support for their kids and to teach other dads how to be supportive, the boy asked Armstrong for a hug.

“He sobbed in my arms for like 10 minutes because he was so afraid of letting anybody know who he was, but he could not imagine that his dad would be supportive of him that way. We run into a lot of that, unfortunately,” Armstrong says.

Armstrong is grateful to Idaho Falls Pride for giving him and his team a place where they can help other fathers advocate for their kids.

Though there has been occasional opposition to the Idaho Falls pride festival over the years, McCary says overall, Idaho Falls is a welcoming community, and people are usually “civil and peaceful” in their conversations about LGBTQ+ issues.

She came out as a bisexual woman to her friends and family about 11 years ago, and she says everyone’s been supportive of her lifestyle from the beginning.

“I had a really easy time. I’m not from this area originally, and when I came out to my friends and family, it was kind of a non-issue. It was, ‘Ok, we love you,’ and then they moved on,” McCary says. “For the most part, people here in Idaho Falls are willing to have a civil discussion. Not everyone necessarily agrees, but pretty much everyone is civil and cordial with me and willing to get to know me as a person.”

McCary’s favorite part of the event is seeing young people who are LGBTQ+ express themselves in a way they don’t normally get to in their everyday life. She’s happy to provide an environment where they feel safe to do that.

Her message to everyone, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, is to “take care of each other” and to “lend a hand” to those who need help.