4 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
THE RAINBOW
CONNECTION
Astoria Pride celebrates LGBTIQ+ community June 8–10
COLIN MURPHEY PHOTO
Participants in the 2017 Astoria Pride Parade make their way down the Astoria Riverwalk.
By KATHERINE LACAZE
FOR COAST WEEKEND
C
oming from a conservative
upbringing in Utah, Cannon
Beach resident Richard Bow-
man used to assume Pride events
were “a way of flaunting one’s
sexuality.”
“But being away from Utah, and
seeing what Pride is really about, it’s
exactly the opposite,” said Bowman,
who is serving as a Cannon Beach
ambassador for the Lower Columbia
Q Center, the nonprofit, nonpolitical
organization behind the third annual
Astoria Pride: Follow the Rainbow.
“It’s about acceptance and love and
not throwing anything in anybody’s
face.”
In fact, the Astoria Pride Commit-
tee emphasizes that anyone — from
the Lower Columbia region and
beyond — is welcome to participate
in the three-day festival, taking place
Friday, June 8, through Sunday, June
10. Whether you’re single, married,
in a partnership, a parent, a mem-
ber of the LGBTIQ+ community or
an ally, LCQC Astoria Pride Chair
Marco Davis encourages everyone
to “come with an open heart and an
open mind.”
“I love building community,
and I love education through life
experience,” he said, adding that if
the broader public is welcome “to
explore and witness our culture and
where we come from as a queer com-
munity, it makes it more understand-
able and knocks down the barrier.”
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