BEMIDJI — Despite the cloudy weather, rainbows were no rare sight at Bemidji Pride, a community celebration of LGBTQ+2 identities held at the Rail River Folk School on Saturday, Aug. 27.
Hundreds of people from Bemidji and the surrounding areas attended the event, now in its second year, filtering through the colorful booths of vendors and resources as the first part of the event kicked off.
“This is something that is very incredible, and I really want to say thank you all for being here,” said Arnold Dahl-Wooley, one of the event’s organizers, in his opening statement. “Thank you so much for bringing awareness to our culture and to the Two-Spirit community and beyond.”
Maggi Fellerman / Bemidji Pioneer
This year’s Bemidji Pride event began with a family-friendly fair in the afternoon where all ages were welcome, before moving into a concert and drag show in the evening for those 18 and older.
All of these events and activities are meant to bring people together and create a sense of community around LGBTQ identities and pride.
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“We’re connecting people with each other,” said Ben Cahill, one of the event’s organizers. “That's what’s really important about events like this, that’s one of the big focuses.”
Maggi Fellerman / Bemidji Pioneer
After the success of last year’s event, which drew in around 600 people, the team behind Bemidji Pride began to look at ways to continue their engagement with the region’s LGBTQ community and work toward meeting its needs.
“We wanted a way to still engage with and help the community when we’re not doing pride,” Cahill explained.
This led to the creation of the Pride Support Network, a nonprofit organization with the mission of empowering and connecting LGBTQ+ and Two-Spirit individuals in northern Minnesota.
“The biggest need we identified so far is the want to have a sense of community,” Cahill shared. “There’s no dedicated queer space despite having plenty of people here. There isn’t a sense of community, that’s really what we’re working on.”
With this goal in mind, the Pride Support Network has regularly scheduled Queer Tea Social Hours, meant to connect members of the community with each other more than once a year. It also connects individuals to support groups, including one for parents of LGBTQ youth.
“We want to make sure that we’re visible, that we’re seen and heard,” Dahl-Wooley said. “We really want to make sure that we support the LGBTQ+ Two Spirit community.”
Maggi Fellerman / Bemidji Pioneer
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History and progress
Another one of the event’s primary purposes is to raise awareness about LGBTQ identities and history. A particular focus was the history of Two Spirit people, an umbrella term for Indigenous identities where an individual has both a masculine and feminine spirit.
“Two Spirit people have existed here forever, it’s important that we highlight that and give them space to be seen,” Cahill explained. “It’s important that we really keep Two Spirit people central to Bemidji Pride.”
Maggi Fellerman / Bemidji Pioneer
The intersection of Indigenous and Two Spirit identities with the LGBTQ community was apparent throughout the event right from the start, as the afternoon opened with a drum circle and grass dance.
As the event continued, local drag queen Deja DuValle, who is also Two Spirit and helped organize the event, spoke on the history of the LGBTQ community and the progress that has helped lead to events like Bemidji Pride, beginning with the Stonewall Riots in 1969.
“The riots are widely considered the watershed event that transformed the Gay Liberation Movement and the 21st-century fight for LGBTQ+ Two Spirit rights in the United States,” DuValle explained.
Maggi Fellerman / Bemidji Pioneer
DuValle went on to say that the work toward equality isn’t complete, highlighting the continued marginalization of transgender individuals, particularly transwomen of color, who face high rates of violence, prejudice and discrimination.
“I’m here to remind you that the fight for equality didn’t end with marriage equality. We’re not all equal until we are all equal,” DuValle said.
As much as Bemidji Pride is a celebration of LGBTQ and Two-Spirit identities, DuValle believes it’s also a reminder of and motivation for the work that still needs to be done.
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“I want us to use this day as a celebration for how far we’ve come, and to use this day as a reminder for how far we still have to go,” DuValle said. “We can do and be better while moving forward together.”
Maggi Fellerman / Bemidji Pioneer
Maggi Fellerman / Bemidji Pioneer
Maggi Fellerman / Bemidji Pioneer
Maggi Fellerman / Bemidji Pioneer
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Hundreds gather for 2nd annual Bemidji Pride event - The Bemidji Pioneer
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