Pride and protest
Laramie's LGBTQ+ community gathered for events scheduled across a busy two weeks. Ahead of Pride in the Park Saturday, Laramigos also hosted a "No Kings" protest.
Pride Month might run for the entire month of June, but Laramie’s PrideFest celebrations concluded Sunday night with a Candlelight Vigil honoring Matthew Shepard. It was a vigil that called to mind the countless other lives lost as casualties to anti-LGBTQ+ violence and discriminatory government policies.
This year’s Laramie PrideFest — which just concluded its ninth year — came just weeks before a spate of new anti-trans laws are set to effect on July 1.
This year’s Pride Month celebrations also came amid a tense national atmosphere. Immigration raids in Los Angeles targeting workplaces, spurred by the Trump Administration’s accelerating deportation regime, have inspired widespread protests in LA and across the country.
On Saturday, just before Laramie’s Pride in the Park, the city played host to a “No Kings” protest — planned to coincide with a military parade in Washington, D.C. and carried out in solidarity with more than 2,000 similar demonstrations across the U.S.
As Laramigos were setting up booths in the park, or gathering at the Albany County Courthouse for the protest, violence erupted in several other locales, including the apparent assassination of a Democratic state lawmaker in Minnesota and the attempted assassination of another. There were vehicular attacks against “No Kings” protestors in Culpeper, Virginia and San Francisco as well as a shooting in Salt Lake City.
Laramie’s protests were peaceful, although some pickup trucks “coal-rolled” protestors, blanketing them in exhaust smoke. These included at least one truck that had done the same during a previous protest — a red Ram 2500 with Oregon license plate 678 KGU.

At other points, protestors were answered by shouts and middle fingers from passing cars — though supportive honks appeared to be more common.
Both the protest and Pride in the Park drew hundreds. The Laramie Reporter was there for much of it, witnessing and documenting a unique historical moment. Amid so much turmoil, this year’s schedule urged attendees to imagine a better, more free and queer future.
Laramie PrideFest’s official accounts posted photos of additional events, from drag shows to storytelling nights.








Thanks Jeff!
The truck guy put his two trump flags on for the remainder of the days activities. I have noticed that with the expansion of Wyotech there have been more Oregon people moving to Laramie along with their families. I would suspect all of them are from Eastern Oregon where right wing, christian nationalist beliefs are baked in the cake. In fact on election day some were aghast that they had to show up and color in trump's name because they formerly mailed in their "hate" votes.
This morning Glenn Woods told his listeners that the Minnesota shooter was a liberal Democrat and targeted those Democrats fore execution because they were not liberal enough. I really hate the timeline we are living in......
The other "interesting" thing I saw yesterday was a motorcycle rider with their female passenger sporting a leather jacket and headband with the "stars and bars" predominately displayed. Maybe flying the battle flag of traitors to our Republic is a selling point for those buying or selling real estate in Laramie, but I think it is racist and ignorant.