This year, Pride just felt...different. With all of the horrendous attacks on LGBTQ+ people in legislatures across the country as well as continued violence against queer and trans people, it's hard to want to get together and celebrate. But that's the point of Pride: to say that we are going to celebrate who we are and the fact that we find love in spite of all of the hatefulness toward us in the world.
This gallery includes the homepage photo collage, Cocktail Hour, which was a celebration of my drag career in any number of bars across the Midwest, as well as a few images celebrating the revolutionary history of Pride. It's not a metaphor when we say, "The first Pride was a riot." Ever since the Stonewall Uprising on 1969, queer and trans folks have been fighting and loving our way into full membership in society, and we're not afraid to pick up the bricks again if needed.
These gorgeous photos were done by Ryanne from Studio 208 in Bismarck, and were shot on location in and around Thomas & Moriarty's in Mandan.