Frequently Asked Questions

What is Pride Northwest?
How does Pride get organized every year?
Why does Pride happen in June?
Why is Pride on Father's Day weekend?
Why is the Parade on Sunday?
Who organizes the Dyke March?
Why does Pride Northwest allow women to be topless at the event?
Why are there scantily clad men in the parade?
Why are there kink and leather-oriented people in the parade?
Why is the Festival fenced?
Why does the Pride security protect the protesters?
Why does Pride Northwest ask for a donation at the gate?
Why does Portland Pride have corporate sponsors?
How are the booth fees set?
Why isn't the event called "Gay Pride"?

What is Pride Northwest?

Pride Northwest is a non-profit 501(c) 3 organization whose main objective is to organize the Portland Pride Celebration every year. It is an all-volunteer board that strives to create a diverse and accessible event. The mission of Pride Northwest, Inc. is to encourage and celebrate the positive diversity of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans communities, and to assist in the education of all people through the development of activities that showcase the history, accomplishments, and talents of these communities.  top

How does Pride get organized every year?

The Pride Northwest board starts planning in August for the following year's Pride event. Each board member leads or helps to lead a committee that organizes a particular part of the celebration, such as entertainment or parade. Committee members are drawn from the community and volunteer their time to help plan the event.  top

Why does Pride happen in June?

Pride Celebrations have been happening in Portland for nearly 30 years. Originally, the event was scheduled in June to commemorate the Stonewall Riots in New York.  top

Why is Pride on Father's Day weekend?

Pride was originally scheduled on the third weekend in June. As Waterfront Park has become more popular, and more events reserve weekends in the summer, it is increasingly harder to find a free weekend. In addition, the parks have a strict maintenance schedule and are very careful about giving enough time between events for turf re-mediation. If we hadn't had the tradition of reserving the third weekend, we would have a hard time scheduling Waterfront Park at all. Although the event does conflict with Father's Day, it would be nearly impossible to hold it at any other time.  top

Why is the Parade on Sunday?

Originally, the Pride Celebration was a one-day event, with a parade and a festival. Several years ago, it became a two-day event. It is more natural to make the parade the culminating event, to increase the anticipation and excitement by building upon the festival and dance. It is easier to rearrange the downtown traffic around the parade route on Sunday as well.  top

Who organizes the Dyke March?

Although the Dyke March occurs on Pride weekend, and is an important part of the event, it is not organized by Pride Northwest. You can get more information or get involved by going to dykemarchportland.com   top

Why does Pride Northwest allow women to be topless at the event? Why are there scantily clad men in the parade? Why are there kink and leather-oriented people in the parade?

Pride Northwest provides a venue for members of the LGBTQ communities to gather, celebrate, disseminate information and enjoy one another. These communities vary widely, and people come from many different backgrounds and hold many different beliefs. Therefore, Pride Northwest is not responsible for the opinions and actions of each and every person who attends the event. We have a freedom of expression policy that states that as long as people are not breaking the law, or demeaning or degrading one another, they are free to do, as they like. In Portland, it is not illegal for women to go topless in public, so they are free to do so at the Pride events.
Pride encourages all of its attendees to express themselves as they choose, and to remind people that we have to be tolerant of one another. The event belongs to everyone in the LGBTQ communities, and we don't always agree on things.  top

Why is the Festival fenced?

Fencing around the festival is a requirement for our walk-around liquor permit.  top

Why does the Pride security protect the protesters?

Religious protestors attend our event almost every year. Their goal is to provoke a response from the attendees. A verbal response is good, but the protestors are also looking for the opportunity to have an altercation between them and our attendees, creating the possibility for lawsuits and negative publicity directed at the queer community. Since we started fencing, the protestors tend to gather on the public street during the parade. It is Pride Northwest's goal to diffuse any situations that might become inflammatory and lead to an altercation. Therefore, we try to place a barrier of security personnel between the protestors and parade attendees. Since the entire goal of the protestors is to provoke a response, we encourage attendees to ignore them and keep their distance.  top

Why does Pride Northwest ask for a donation at the gate?

Pride's yearly budget has increased significantly. Some of the increases are beyond our control. Permit fees and insurance costs have increased astronomically. Others are a result of a larger festival and increased services and entertainers. In the past, Pride board members and volunteers went around with buckets asking for donations to help with the cost of the event. This approach was not particularly successful for a number of reasons. The board decided asking people for a donation at the gate would be a better way to fund the event-and it was. The donation is voluntary, and no one will be turned away for not donating.  top

Why does Portland Pride have corporate sponsors?

Portland Pride cannot be funded entirely with donations and booth fees. Rather than charge admission or raise booth fees, Pride Northwest has several corporate sponsors. Some of them are national, but most are local. Some sponsors give us money, and others donate goods and services we need. We have a formal criteria for evaluating our sponsors and try to find the ones that are the best fit.  top

How are the booth fees set?

Portland Pride's booth fees are quite moderate compared with other Pride organizations around the country. Larger Prides such as San Francisco are an order of magnitude more expensive. We have different rates for profit and not-for-profit organizations. The rates increase after May 1 and then again after June 1. We do what we can to make sure that organizations and businesses that want booths can afford to do so. In addition, organizations can share a booth, and sometimes sponsors will donate their booths. The money from the booth spaces goes to support the event. Money for canopies, tables and chairs goes directly to our supplier.  top

Why isn't the event called "Gay Pride?"

The official name of our event is "The Portland Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans and Queer Pride Celebration." Informally we refer to it as Queer Pride, and our themes often reflect this. Pride Northwest is committed to being as inclusive as we can, both in our event and on our board. Calling our event "Gay Pride" dismisses the fact that many many people who do not identify as gay attend our event and are part of our community. The LGBTQ community is very diverse, and as an organization, we wish to acknowledge and honor that diversity.  top