SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash — Pride looked a little different this year, instead of marching down the block people are driving. Spokane Pride held a drive-thru fundraiser at the Spokane Arena.
Pride is a way people in the LGBTQ+ community can come together to celebrate who they are, but the pandemic caused the in-person event to be cancelled.
"Our hope was to develop something that allowed for the community to reflect on their identities, but also gave them the opportunity to take stuff home," said Spokane Pride President Esteban Herevia.
"One of the big things that people talk about at Pride is their ability to walk away with shirts or hats or even pins and stickers, so we wanted to replicate that."
Although it will not be in a festival form, the Pride kit fundraiser was hopefully still meaningful, he added.
"Pride for most people is the one day, the one chance that they get to express themselves in a public way in a very public manner," said Spokane Pride President Esteban Herevia.
Herevia started to feel comfortable in his skin because of Pride, and he knows that is the reality for many other people in the community.
"It used to be super hard for me to hold this flag," he said. "For folks to not feel that form of visibility and that form of proclamation it's definitely a hit, It's hard."
That's why Spokane Pride is hosting a drive-thru to raise money for the actual event next summer.
They have flags, shirts, and of course, masks. They prepared over 200 bags and people kept coming.
"So Pride for me just means acceptance for everyone regardless of who you love and who you feel you are on the inside," said an attendee.
"It is our community, the LGBTQ plus, community saying we are here, we're queer, we're visible," Herevia said. "We are part of this community, Pride is a way for us to show that."
This coming June will be Spokane's 30th pride anniversary, so they are trying to keep the community's spirits high as they prepare for what they said could be the biggest Pride yet.