Hundreds gather for annual Sequim Pride Celebration

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, July 1, 2026

Hundreds of people — many colorfully dressed — gathered at the Sequim Farmers and Artisans Market on the Sequim Civic Center plaza for the fifth annual Sequim Pride Celebration on Saturday, June 27.

David Ham, one of the volunteer organizers of Sequim Pride, said the event went smoothly and seems to gets better every year.

The event included speakers and a parade along West Washington Street that was marshaled by Curt Queyrouze, president and CEO of community bank First Fed.

Event speakers included Queyrouze, Clallam County commissioner Mark Ozias, Washington representative Adam Bernbaum, D-Port Angeles, Toby Hendrickson, representing the GSA (Gender and Sexuality Alliance) club at Sequim High, and Michael Lowe, Sequim Pride Celebration organizer, who read a letter from the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, the event’s primary sponsor.

Hendrickson and another GSA representative accepted a $500 contribution for the club, and said that it had only three people in it a few years ago, and now has a whole team of support.

“Because of the support we’re a lot more prepared,” Hendrickson said, sharing that they plan to hold movie nights, offer know-your-rights-education, and discussions with parents of queer children.

During the event, Lowe, dressed as his alternate persona Rhoda Gravel, and expressed great joy during the celebration, receiving hugs and words of gratitude from a variety of people. He said that 80 people showed up for Sequim Pride in the first year.

“It’s grown from where we’ve started,” he said. “I’m so tickled by what it’s grown to, with so much support from this community.”

He said he feels good about the younger people who have taken charge of Sequim Pride so that it can continue into the future and that he started it to keep a promise to friends who have died. The nearly 80-year-old said that his generation of queer people had to leave Sequim to find community and that has changed.

Market vendor Kristi King-Cooper of “Coffee and Composure” said seeing Sequim come together with the event’s inclusiveness was “magical.”

At the Sequim Pride booth, organizers shared free bags, shirts, flags and bracelets, along as with multi-colored striped cookies made by Olympic Mountain Goodies, a market vendor.

To volunteer with Sequim Pride, email to sequimpride@gmail.com. Find the group online at Instagram.com/sequimpride and facebook.com/SequimPride.