La Center Rainbow Walk and Festival 2025
The dignity this soul possessed was as impressive as the presentation.
I haven’t blogged for over a month! I think I’ve been basking in the PDXSquared energy and, of course, working hard to survive the Game of Capitalism, and May just slipped by. How’s everybody doing out there? Having as much trouble with current events as I am? Alrighty then.
In happy news, I was honored to photograph portraits at the La Center Rainbow Walk Festival 2025 from the viewpoint of the Front Door NW festival booth. Here are the images folx kindly created with me:
I’m still new to Summer Pride as an Out bisexual woman, and that freedom really should be front and center in my mind. It’s not, though. I have three thoughts hanging out from this day.
One, an observation from a founder of Saturday in the Park, whose name escapes me, but whose booth was right next to Front Door’s: All of these young people around us have their whole lives to enjoy Pride, to be Out (current administration notwithstanding). Both of us pushing 50ish, we shared a thoughtful look over that.
Secondly, I messed up. There were Black vendors and Black performers at the Rainbow Walk Festival, but none of them made it into any of the media coverage I have found. I could have made a difference on that score. I’m not technically “the media,” but I saw a number of photographs I wanted to capture and amplify. And I was inspired by the performances, and want to look up the artists (do you know who they were? Shoot me a message!). Before the actual performances, though, the ambient music volume was overwhelming my LongCovid brain, which kept my body from following my camera eye like I wanted it to. I have Loop earplugs on order so that doesn’t happen again.
Thirdly, it feels strange to be beating feet to build this business while a trans woman - an asylum seeker! - has been tricked and trapped by ICE agents just over the river - as is happening to men, women and children, regardless of color or status, all over the country, now. It feels uncomfortable to be forced to focus on trying to survive while genocide is still happening in Gaza. And it feels very off-putting to continue to have to pretend that the pandemic is over, that no one is fighting for their health thanks to Covid anymore, least of all me.
Do you know what? This little fact pales in gravity, but it’s telling, too. At one of the places of employment for which I applied to this month, a health food store, I was told employees are not allowed to talk about Covid. That’s right: Not. Allowed. So if a customer desperate to heal from LongCovid comes in looking for answers, I’d technically be barred from sharing all I’ve learned in the last five years. Wouldn’t want to get in the way of the corporation making a profit.
So yes, it’s Pride, and it’s a time of celebration - but I’ve also got a lot on my mind. So should we all.
I’ll be a volunteer photographer at Camas Pride on June 22. Then, I’ll be snapping portraits again at the Front Door NW booth again on Saturday, July 12 at Saturday in the Park in Vancouver’s Esther Short Park. I intend to represent the diversity in our community better this time.
Will I see you there?
Charity Feb lives and writes on The Herbalist’s Homestead, a progressive little hobby farm rebelliously tucked into the southwest hills of Camas, Washington, USA. She photographs portraits in her home studio under the business name Portraits of Connection by Charity Feb.
#LaCenterRainbowWalk #LaCenterRainbowFestival #Pride2025 #PrideintheNW #ClarkCountyPride