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Washington Pride brings crowd to city

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Paul Paterra/Observer-Reporter

Spiderman came to Washington Pride and spent time with Zachary Stevens, 5, of Washington.

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Photos: Paul Paterra/Observer-Reporter

Miss Demeanor performs for the crowd.

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Paul Paterra/Observer-Reporter

Allie Royer of Waynesburg lets some bubbles fly.

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Photos: Paul Paterra/Observer-Reporter

Phoenix Fatale sits at the drag queen dunk tank.

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Paul Paterra/Observer-Reporter

The Miller sisters from Washington (from left) Rachel, Katie and Erica, attended because they like to support others.

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Paul Paterra/Observer-Reporter

Enjoying the day are Marissa Clancy with her sons Declan (left) and Owen.

Pride was prevalent in the city of Washington on a sun-soaked Saturday.

It was second Washington Pride event and it expanded from 2022’s initial festival to having a portion of South Main Street closed for festival goers. There even was a children’s area this year set up in the parking lot of the Observer-Reporter.

Washington Pride was packed with entertainment ranging from drag performers to those from the Pittsburgh Ballroom. Also taking the stage were Mook Dawg, Erica Perry and Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon, a contestant on American Idol in 2019. DJ Petey C kept it lively as he spun numerous tunes.

Many health and wellness vendors were on hand. Central Outreach Wellness Center offered testing for a number of diseases.

Plus, among the new attractions this year was a drag queen dunk tank.

“I think we have something for everyone,” said Kathleen Cameron, chair of the Washington County Gay Straight Alliance. “All communities deserve a safe space to celebrate. We’re offering that. You can express yourself however you wish.”

Washington County Gay Straight Alliance is dedicated to affirming acceptance between diverse groups of people, by raising awareness of the needs of the LGBTQA community through support, education and community outreach on the issues of diversity.

“Part of our mission is to educate the community and provide resources,” Cameron said. “How much more can you do than bring several thousand people together to show them the resources available to them in a safe space.”

Marissa Clancy of Washington was at the festival, stating she wants her offspring to know all that is taking place in their world.

“I like to show my boys every aspect of our community and this is a really important one,” she said. “I think what they’re doing to bring the community together is fantastic.”

Her sons, Declan, 10, and Owen, 12, were enjoying the festival, feeling everyone was quite nice.

“Everyone’s accepting and positive,” Owen said. “There’s people giving free hugs. It was awesome.”

Indeed, there was a booth offering Free Mom Hugs.

Another theme of the day was support.

“We have to support everyone,” said John F. DiSalle, Washington County president judge. “We have to make everyone feel safe, accepted and protected.

Their desire to support people brought the Miller sisters – Rachel, Katie and Erica – of Washington to the festival.

Also stressed was inclusion.

“Inclusivity in our downtown is important and, in our region,” said Mayor Scott Putnam. “To get a thousand people in our downtown is a great day and we’re including everybody.”

Romana Flores of Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center, which had a booth at the festival, said such Pride events are very important.

“With everything going on in the country and all of the backlash against the strides the queer community has been making, it’s more important than ever,” she said.

Cameron was quite happy with the way the festival went and hopes to keep them going in the future.

“I can’t say that anything could have been better,” she said. “We had a great crowd and no incidences of note in any negative way. If we can afford to do it, we’ll keep doing it. It costs a lot of money to have an event like this, but we wouldn’t do it if we didn’t feel it was worth it. Just the smiles on the people’s faces who have never been to a Pride event before, never felt safe before makes it all worth it. We’ll try to do it as long as we can.”

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