For June, all Cascadia PRIDE gear is 25% off. Enjoy!
Need a Rainbow, Trans or Non-Binary Flag but can’t afford one? Let us know here, and we’ll send one your way.
Help us spread pride! Donate here. 100% of funds goes to helping get Pride gear out into the world, free of charge.
Happy Pride, Cascadia!
June is Pride month. We use this time to acknowledge the LGBTQ community and honor the memories of those who fought for their right to love and be equal. It’s an important time for all of us to reflect on the sacrifices made for equal rights, to celebrate progress in a freer society, and to recognize there’s still so much more to be done until freedom reigns truly for each of us.
From Ryan Moothart, author of Towards Cascadia:
With the advance of LGTBQ+ rights in the United States, Canada, and around the world, Pride month has evolved into more of an excuse to party in recent years. Festivities are important, but they are not and should not be the reason to mark this occasion. It wasn’t the desire to party which caused those at the Stonewall Inn–led by queer and transgender people of color, mind you–to rebel 48 years ago; it was the desire to live free with the same dignity and rights to love as everyone else.
Pride month is supposed to celebrate the spirit of resistance and overcoming prejudice. It’s important to remember and honor that. And, with regard to us here in Cascadia, with so many of these fundamental and basic rights coming under attack, it’s important we embody this spirit now more than ever.
What better way to resist than to celebrate and proclaim the very things these forces of prejudice are attempting to fight: diversity, acceptance, freedom, and love.
The Stonewall riots were a tipping point and the birth for the Gay Liberation and modern Gay Rights Movement in the United States and around the world. In the United States the last Sunday in June was initially celebrated as “Gay Pride Day,” but the actual day was flexible. In major cities across the nation the “day” soon grew to encompass a month-long series of events. Today, celebrations include pride parades, picnics, parties, workshops, symposium and concerts, and LGBT Pride Month events attract millions of participants around the world. Memorials are held during this month for those members of the community who have been lost to hate crimes or HIV/AIDS.
Pride month should foremost be about embodying that spirit of resisting hate and working toward a better vision which is good and true. This year, Pride month can and should be about so much more in Cascadia. Now, more than ever, it’s important for us to do this. Not just as Americans or Canadians, but as Cascadians and human beings. Ultimately, Cascadia isn’t about politics or ideologies; it’s about creating a better future in which all of us here in this region can truly be free to love, live, and pursue happiness. And yes, this future includes those who currently are inclined to concede to their fears and succumb to their prejudices. Hate is a learned behavior; it can be un-learned so that love may prevail.
It is in this spirit you, I, and everyone should go out and celebrate Pride this month. Whether you’re in Seattle, Idaho Falls, Prince George, Eureka, or anywhere in between, make sure you’re a true force of love this month and beyond. Counter hate with the same compassion you wish to see in the world and show everyone what Cascadia is really about.
