Wyoming
‘Pride Lives Here’: Belonging, visibility, identity in Casper’s queer community
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.
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.”
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.