Proud To Be Gay More Than 1,000 March In Gay Pride Parade Through Downtown Spokane

The gay pride march in Spokane on Sunday afternoon was a homecoming of sorts for Tommy Decker.

The 25-year-old said he moved to Seattle a year ago after a roommate kicked him out of his home because he was gay. This weekend, Decker came back to Spokane for the fourth-annual pride march.

Decker wore a jersey from his all-gay hockey team with an AIDS memorial red-ribbon patch stitched on the left shoulder.

“I never chose to be gay,” Decker said. “It’s something I am. It’s time to just be who I am.”

He marched through downtown Spokane with an estimated 1,100 people supporting the rights of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people.

The march started east of the Coliseum and looped into Riverfront Park, where people walked under a rainbow of balloons and into a celebration area featuring booths, music and speakers.

The march, organized by the Spokane Pride Committee, featured groups such as Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, the Northwest Gay Rodeo Association, and Odyssey, a support group for gay, lesbian and bisexual teenagers.

Wendy Ann Wright helped hold a banner for Odyssey. The 17-year-old, who also graduated from Central Valley High School on Sunday, looked anxious when a photographer shot her picture.

Wright was worried her parents might see the photograph.

“The lesbian thing’s OK,” she said. It was the cigarette in her hand that was the problem. “They don’t know this.”

At the march, there were children, grandparents, dogs and baby carriages. People shouted slogans such as: “We’re here, we’re queer, and we go shopping,” and “Hey, hey, ho, ho, homophobia’s got to go.”

The event was Bil Flesher’s first in Spokane. He moved in January from Portland, where he participated in many pride parades. Flesher said he was impressed by Spokane’s march.

“It’s smaller in numbers, but it’s just as big in spirit,” he said.

His partner, Jim Flaherty, wore a pink shirt proclaiming “Gay Boy.” He’s been at every Spokane pride march.

“It’s important for the gay community to have a sense of being here and being real,” he said. “It’s a good time to be here and show we’re one.”

This weekend was the first time that nine members of the Northwest Gay Rodeo Association came to Spokane. They were a coordinated group, waving flags from Washington, Idaho, Oregon and British Columbia as they rode wooden hobby horses.

“These horses travel well, too,” said Mary Lisenbery, as she twisted the horse’s head off the stick body. “They come apart.”

Marchers carried signs and waved banners. They blew bubbles. In the front, several people held up an upside-down triangle of pink balloons. Others throughout the parade waved bouquets of multicolored balloons topped with large pink ones.

On the sidelines, some people cheered in support. At least two people jumped into the march. Some just stared. Organizers reported no hassles nor hecklers.

Andi Small, who grew up in Spokane but now lives in Seattle, passed out information to marchers on the upcoming 21-day gay pride celebration in Seattle.

“I’m really impressed,” Small said. “There’s more of a gay community here than I ever thought there was.”

His friend’s grandmother shot back: “Andi, this is just the tip of the iceberg.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo