The City of Kodiak proclaimed June as LGBTQIA+ Pride Month at its last Council Meeting – and the Kodiak Island Borough issued its own proclamation at last night’s Assembly meeting. The support comes on the tailwinds of a month-long lineup of Pride events in Kodiak.
Kodiak’s June pride celebration started as a virtual walk and run back in 2020 to raise money for the Trevor Project, which is a suicide and crisis line for LGBTQ+ youth. That grew into an in-person Rainbow Run followed by a post-race party last year.
And this year it’s even bigger and encompasses a month of pride events – like LGBTQ+ Trivia Night – scheduled for Fri., June 17 at the Kodiak Island Brewery – glow yoga, and even a float in Kodiak’s Crab Festival parade late last month. This year’s event still includes a Rainbow Run, scheduled for Sat., June 25 at 10:30 a.m. at Kodiak High School.
“It’s been really neat to see the community embrace it,” said Marion Claridge.
Claridge is one of the organizers of Kodiak Pride – which is the group behind the events. Claridge says local businesses and nonprofits have partnered with Kodiak Pride for the month-long lineup of festivities, and they’re hoping to use the momentum to roll out more community programming.
“We have a Pride Committee that’s been working on a bunch of different ideas to have more events and raise more awareness and eventually get stuff going year round,” said Claridge.
Pride Month is celebrated across the country each June to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City, which marked a turning point for gay rights. But it hasn’t always been forward progress – just this week, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School Board passed the state’s first transgender athlete ban.
Claridge says local support for the LGBTQ+ community makes a big difference.
“It’s really an important time for us to make sure that, you know, we’re taking the steps that we can to help make sure this is a safe and inclusive place for everyone,” said Claridge.
A full schedule of this month’s events is available on the Kodiak Pride Facebook page.