Parade the centerpiece of gay pride celebration
A state gay pride celebration this weekend could draw 500 people to Kalispell, one organizer estimated this week - and it could draw its share of protesters, too.
The Flathead Valley Alliance, a coalition of gays and lesbians, is planning a Friday night dance at the Red Lion Hotel Kalispell, then on Saturday a 10 a.m. Main Street parade from the courthouse to Center Street and an 11 a.m. rally in Depot Park.
It will be followed by an afternoon of music and activities in the park, then singers, bands, an 8 p.m. drag show and 10 p.m. dance at the Red Lion.
The local group is in its first year of a two-year commitment to host the annual Montana Pride Network celebration. Billings hosted the celebration in 2007 and 2008, with an estimated crowd of 700 last year, and Helena played host the prior two years.
"It was peaceful in Billings. There were probably, at the outside, 10 picketers along the parade route and outside the park," Flathead Valley Alliance Vice President Dee Boyce said. "They're entitled to their opinion and I don't have any problem with that."
Likewise, Valley Victory Church Pastor David Beaulieu said that, although he's opposed to the coalition's views on homosexuality, they are entitled to speak them.
"At this stage we realize the gays and the people that are organizing this have done a great job and are doing everything legal," Beaulieu said. "We realize we can't stop the parade, and we don't even want to stop the parade. We want to voice our concerns' If we do anything, we'll pray."
When plans for the parade were announced earlier this spring it caused something of an uproar. Barry Brubaker led a campaign to urge the Kalispell City Council to ban the parade, contending that it goes against the values that most Flathead Valley residents espouse.
He twice appeared before the City Council with his pastors from Valley Victory, asking the council to reconsider the parade permit. He also said he was circulating a petition.
City Clerk Theresa White said she received two pages of signatures, representing about 65 people, under the title "A Petition."
But it did not meet the requirements of a legal petition, she said. She said it was mailed from the Columbia Falls Assembly of God to the Kalispell city attorney, with a June 10 postmark.
The council did not take any action to reconsider the parade permit.
"I think there's been more publicity because of Mr. Brubaker and what he's talked about," Boyce said. "We couldn't have paid for the publicity he's given us."
Beaulieu agreed.
"We helped them with publicity by what we've said so far," he said. "We don't need to say more."
He said he knows of a few people who plan to stand silently along the parade route holding signs and some who will pray silently, but "our approach is not to be rabble-rousers."
Boyce said her fellow Alliance members have received no threats other than shouted slurs from a teenage boy at The Home Depot shopping area. According to police, who had a run-in with the same boy earlier that day, the incident likely was unrelated to gay issues.
Police Chief Roger Nasset said his department is prepared but he expects a quiet weekend.
"We will have increased personnel out for the parade and the events after the parade," Nasset said. Flathead County Sheriff's deputies, the Sheriff's Posse and Montana Highway Patrol officers will help police over the weekend.
"We don't have any specific threats of any violence. We've got a lot of interaction with people saying that they're going to protest, but we have no reason to believe that their protest will be anything but peaceable," the chief said.
"So even though we're gearing up, we don't have any indication that things are going to be out of hand - but it's better to be safe than sorry."
Reporter Nancy Kimball can be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com