Each year, as another season draws to a close, I look back at what we’ve been able to accomplish. This year, as I prepare to depart my role at Pacific Pride Foundation, I’m especially grateful for the generosity and commitment shown by the donors, volunteers, staff, board, and committee members that make up our PPF Family. 2023 was a year of togetherness, expanded access to programs and services, and continued grounding in our values.
This year, we began to see ourselves as creators and defenders of sacred, joyous spaces – especially in the moments when our community needs them most. Whether producing the annual Pacific Pride Festival with 70 partner organizations, hosting Sunset at the Canary mixers, or supporting other community events, PPF is constantly co-creating spaces where LGBTQ+ people of all ages, cultures, abilities, and identities can connect.
This year was also a year of renewed challenges from forces that would seek to silence and erase LGBTQ+ people. In the context of an unprecedented amount of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation across the country, we have begun to see signs of this ideology in our backyard. This Pride season, in the midst of our celebrations, we saw organized groups of people attending local city council and school board meetings to argue against the annual Pride proclamations that recognize the existence and contributions of LGBTQ+ people.