COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho – The city of Coeur d’Alene celebrated its annual Pride in the Park event, drawing in more attendees than previous years. This celebration came just days after the city approved an ordinance declaring the period from Mother’s Day to Father’s Day as Traditional Family Month. City leaders believe children thrive in traditional family settings.
Joel Bloom, an attendee of the celebration, shared his thoughts on the significance of Pride. “I think the greatest thing about pride is that you feel like it’s your people,” Bloom said.
Having transitioned in 2012, Bloom, who resides in Spokane, attended Pride in the Park in Coeur d’Alene for the first time. “I’m an old guy, and I didn’t know anything about being transgender when I was a kid. I just knew that something wasn’t right,” he said.
Bloom emphasized the sense of comfort and validation that Pride events provide. “I knew when I was just a little bitty kid, but we didn’t have any words for it, you know, that was to go up and say, I’m a boy, and you got little pigtails of people going…” he recalled.
The Pride Fest is a celebration of being true to oneself, but this period also highlights the new family proclamation in some faith groups. Emily Levi, a volunteer, shared her concerns about the timing of the proclamation.
“I can understand the time period in which they want to since Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are so close together but if you’re just doing it to kind of push back against the Pride community, it just doesn’t make any sense,” Levi said.
Following the city council’s declaration of most of the month as Traditional Family Month, the bill stated that children perform better in traditional homes.
“We won’t go back. We won’t go back to how things used to be. We’re going to be here if you like us or not,” Levi added.
Bloom expressed his hope that children today won’t face the same challenges he did.
“It’s like my world went from black and white to color,” he said.
