110 Photos of 7 Fully Packed Days of Alaska Pride

Anchorage photographer Russ Reno gives us a complete picture — with inventory — of a robust Pride in Anchorage. Read more below

Russ Reno sent us this list, and inventory that reads like a poem, of the contents of Anchorage Pride. — Editor

Anchorage, Alaska 7 days of Pride

We had 28 official events and at least 15 other events

2 themes - 1 message "The Next Generation - More than a Rainbow"
4 Bar-b-que's
8 Drag shows
1 Parade
PrideFest on the ParkStrip
4 Meet-and-greets
2 Outdoor concerts
178 Vendors
40+ Parade entries
1,000s of participants
49 bells for Orlando
1 church protested our kids events
1 church opened their doors, parking lot, and bathrooms to apologies for what Christians had done in the name of God.
1 Pageant
1 Film Festival
1 Elders brunch
1 Trans talk
1 Beyond the Closet Talk
Brunch with a drag queen
Stories with a drag queen
Ginger Minj in concert
Reindeer sausages
Deven Green in concert
Food drive
Raffle
45th annual Gay Freedom Day Remembrance
Social hour with appetizers
Pride Swag was sold
Drag Queen Bingo
The Anchorage Fire Department was stopped by a Drag Queen and forced to pose for a photo-opp.
STD testing
Polyamory education
We built a lemonade stand, painted faces, and adopted a dog.
We drank beer, ate pizza, and watched a movie (Philadelphia)
We watched a 5-year-old run in a Rainbow 5K Marathon
We watched several of our friends loose to a 5-year-old in a marathon.
In attendance were our Mayor, Senator, Councilman, City and State Representatives, Assembly members and several future representatives of downtown Anchorage and all of Alaska.
We had a King and a Queen, a Duke, and a Duchess
24 Virgin Drag Queens
We played bingo

This year there were several firsts
First-ever live stream of the Equality Parade in Anchorage
First-ever Gay Pride to be led by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
First time ever that Jews and Catholics walked hand-in-hand in our equality parade.
The National Park Serviced held banners for Stonewall National Monument.
Old white guys marched for LGBTQ rights.

And our Pride photographer took over 4,000 photographs and spent at least 80 hours choosing what few he would share.

That was Pride 2018 in Anchorage, Alaska.