CASPER, Wyo. — The month of June marks a time of celebration, marches and events for LGBTQ+ communities internationally. In Casper, Pride Fest brings the queer community together through a series of events designed to reflect visibility, connection and local identity.

This year’s theme, “Pride Lives Here,” sits at the center of that effort, grounding the festival in the people and community already rooted in Wyoming.

The kickoff event on June 11 at ART 321 brought painting, food and conversation into a shared space where attendees gathered to mark the start of the four-day festival.

Mallory Pollock, executive director of Casper Pride, said the theme reflects how the queer community exists in the city beyond June. Pollock said it speaks to how people “live and work together not just in June, but year round.”

Among those attending the kickoff event was Casper native Lindsay Scott, who said the theme reflects that “there are queer people in Casper who deserve a voice too because we live here.”

“It felt like it reflected me,” they added.

For Scott, visibility is still a challenge across Wyoming, especially in rural areas.

“There needs to be this kind of presence everywhere,” they said. “If there’s not a central hub for any community, it’s hard to find people at all.”

“The lack of specialized resources for especially Indigenous queer people is completely astounding,” they added.

Scott added that Wyoming culture shapes how people live and express identity, describing residents as “high-desert mountain people” with distinct ways of living.

(Tommy Culkin, Oil City News)

That connection between place and identity emerged throughout the evening, though not all community members see Pride in the same way.

Gina Douglas, who has attended Pride events across the country, said Pride in larger cities often consists of large crowds attending large parades. She said that in Wyoming, many people are more cautious about visibility.

“All the people that I met, they’re kind of like, ‘Keep your head down, don’t draw fire,’” she said.

Douglas said she believes visibility is still essential for change, though. “All of us need to be more visible,” she said.

She also pointed to Wyoming’s identity as the “Equality State,” arguing that the reality does not always match the ideal. She said that while Wyoming is often framed as equal on paper, it hasn’t extended to everyone in practice, especially LGBTQ+ people.

Despite differing perspectives, community members agreed that Wyoming shapes a unique queer identity. Scott again pointed to the “cowboy queer” identity, saying it felt “very Wyoming and very queer at the same time.”

An attendee at Paint on the Patio With Pride adds to the communal mural on Friday, June 7, 2024. (Tommy Culkin, Oil City News)

Together, those perspectives reflect a community navigating what Pride means in practice, not just during celebration. For some, it is community-building and year-round support. For others, it is visibility and protest.

However, participants described a shared reality of being queer in Wyoming, shaped by geography, culture and the balance between safety and visibility.

Ultimately, “Pride Lives Here” is less a statement and more a question the community is still exploring.

Related

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — While June is usually full of exuberant Pride Month celebrations, June 12 feels different for many in the LGBTQ community.

10 years ago, a mass shooting at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando claimed the lives of 49 people and wounded dozens more.

Stephen Torres, who acts as program manager for the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District, said the annual memorial vigil honoring the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting is a significant part of Pride Month. It’s a reminder that Pride was born out of protest and that safe spaces for queer people will always be needed.

“Our pride, our joy, our celebration is born out of hard-fought strife and pain, and unfortunately, Pulse is part of that,” said Torres.

For Christopher Vasquez, Pulse was once his sanctuary. Vasquez now lives in San Francisco but is originally from Orlando. Every time he visited home, he spent time at Pulse. Although he wasn’t in Orlando when the shooting happened, he still felt its impact.

“When Pulse opened in 2004, it was new and fun and vibrant. It was a new, safe space for us to come dance and just have a great time,” said Vasquez. “I was just devastated. It was like a piece of my soul was taken from me. Losing 49 people — not just from my hometown but from my LGBTQ community — was absolutely heart-wrenching, and it lives with me to this day, 10 years later.”

Vasquez spoke to the crowd about what Pulse meant to him. They then marched together down Castro Street carrying a sign that read, “Remember the 49,” and laid flowers in honor of the victims.

Vasquez said the fight for LGBTQ rights and acceptance isn’t over. “It’s been 10 years and, for a while, I think people felt very comfortable with where we had come as a community in the LGBTQ space with marriage equality and other gains. But truly, Pulse was a reminder that we have so much further to go because our physical safety is always under attack.”

An e-bike cyclist died after a crash with a vehicle in the Elyria Swansea neighborhood, Denver police said.

The Denver Police Department reported the crash near Steele Street and Eastbound Interstate 70 at 7:24 p.m. Thursday and said one person was taken to the hospital.

The cyclist was pronounced dead at the hospital, agency officials said on social media Friday afternoon. The crash is still under investigation.

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