by Orcas Island Pride

Special to the Sounder

Happy Pride beauties. A toast! To the gay agenda.

Orcas Island Pride has been busy. We are pleased to announce OIP is officially a WA State nonprofit. After six years of grassroots work and research, it has become clear that this is the most aligned next step in our evolution as an organization. It is our hope this will allow us to build organizing capacity and leverage community support into action for the foreseeable future. Huge thank you to Joe Symons and Island Stewards for their partnership, as well as David Dotlich, Bonnie Burg and Gretchen Krampf for consulting over the years.

In the meantime, we’ve been hard at work mobilizing for June’s Pride Fest. It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be flashy. It’s going to be flirty. It’s going to be exactly what we make of it. As always, it’s a protest. And in the spirit of liberation, intersectionality and community, the Pride 2024 theme is Global Solidarity. Around the world, no one person faces any struggle in a void. We are all interlinked, across cultures, languages, and borders. Justice for all people truly can start at home!

“Whether or not they succeed, there is merit and power in a social movement’s vision because these alternative visions and dreams inspire new generations to continue to struggle for change,” Aja Monet says in her foreword to Robin D.G. Kelley’s Freedom Dreams. Our deepest vision for Orcas Pride’s Day Fest is rooted in inclusivity and service.

That being said, here’s the press!

Orcas Pride festivities start on Wednesday night, June 5 at 7 p.m. at the Seaview Bar for Club Orcas’ Pride Pre-Party. DJs and dogs, lights and lasers, just groovy dancing in the classiest establishment on Orcas.

Thursday, June 6 at 7 p.m., The Barnacle is bringing back dreamboat Shiksa Mess for her one-woman show “Shiksa Sings, the tour. A (Half) Black Comedy Cabaret.” Opening act by the one and only Gene Shorts. This one is truly not to be missed and sure to fill up – free and open to all.

Pride Day Fest is back on Saturday, June 8 at The Grange all day from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m! Free! All identities welcome. Thank you truly, madly, deeply to the community for showing up and making this dream of an anti-capitalist, service-oriented Pride event a reality. Once again, practitioners from the Healing Arts Center will be offering free massages and acupuncture, as well as Dance Healing with Hayley Shannon, kids yoga with Maria Poblet, dance performances by the Junior Dance Collective, Smilebooth, face painting and makeup tables…with more to be announced soon! Parking will be available at OrcaSong Farm again this year, with volunteers on staff to mediate traffic and help you cross the road safely. At 5 p.m. on Saturday, join us at the long table for a family potluck.

On Friday and Saturday nights June 7 and 8 at the Orcas Grange, Orcas Pride Presents: THE RANT AND RAVE REVUE. Doors at 6:30 p.m., show at 7:30 p.m. both nights. Sliding scale $25-$100 – you decide what to contribute! Come to the second hottest place for gossip on Orcas Island!!! Tickets available for Friday and Saturday night shows. (18+ both nights). Featuring our one and only queen family: Shiksa Mess, Hoochie Papa, Rowan Ruthless and Uh Oh XOXO. We’re so incredibly excited to be bringing back SLAY SCHOOL for its second year. Eight local community members will engage in a curriculum of drag and performance workshops with the four queens, and will share what they learn on stage during the show – four different performances each night, for a little different flavor on the tongue. Plus you know we couldn’t do Night Fest without plenty of surprises. Drinks available for purchase prior to and during the show by The Barnacle. Friday afterparty at The Lower, Saturday after party at the Grange. For any off-islanders wanting to join us, we’d love to have you! Camping can be made available on-site. Buy tickets here.

Also, Orcas Island Pride is seeking volunteers! If you’d like to help this year, please fill out this volunteer form and Malea will contact you imminently.

Our mission is to provide connection, education and support for LGBTQ2+ and intersecting communities in the San Juan Islands and beyond. Donating to Orcas Island Pride is one of the most practical and effective ways you can bolster LGBTQ2+ representation and access in the San Juan Islands. Your gift at any level, and for any purpose, makes you a valued member of Orcas Pride.

Donations can be made via check directly to Orcas Island Pride. We can be contacted at orcasislandpride@gmail.com. Donations of $200 or more are tax deductible via the Island Stewards website. (Please designate your donation to Orcas Island Pride in the “Additional Information” Section).