(Fremont County, WY) – Wind River Pride, a local organization dedicated to hosting events that create an inclusive and safe space for LGBTQ2S community members, organized several events earlier in June in both Lander and Riverton. Their events coincide with National Pride Month.
The events included Queers with Quills, where anyone from the LGBTQ2S community could share anything they had written; film screenings of Paris Is Burning and Wildhood at the Riverton Branch Library; Disco Inferno and Bonfire in Lander; a Drag Show and Dance Party in Lander; and Pride in the Park at Lander’s City Park.
While most of the events went smoothly, they received pushback from local community members, most notably from the Patriot Front, which is defined by the Anti-Defamation League as a white supremacist group.
According to their website, the Patriot Front aims to “Reclaim America.”
Members of the group wore masks and protested by holding signs and chanting slogans during the drag show at Jaycee Park on June 17.
Due to this targeted harassment – among others this year, a concern for safety, the passing of draft one of IJLA Policy at Lander Schools, and the Anti-Discrimination Month Proclamation, Wind River Pride has chosen to forego their annual participation in the 4th of July festivities.
Their announcement was released on June 22, and can be read in its entirety below.
