More than 6,000 people, and several hundred dogs, congregated on either side of Last Chance Gulch in downtown Helena Saturday morning to cheer on the Pride parade.
Including Helena, there have been 12 Pride celebrations across Montana this summer, the most ever held in the state, says Kevin Hamm, the lead coordinator for Montana Pride. And these celebrations come after a legislative session that saw a series of bills targeting the LGBTQ+ community.
“How can they have drag? Are they going to get in trouble? Are they going to get sued? Blah, blah blah, and we had all of that. And that was the concern in March, April, May. As the bill became law it became a bigger concern,” Hamm said.
House Bill 359 banned drag performances where minors could be present. It was signed into law in May and had an immediate effective date.
Rep. Braxton Mitchell, a Republican from Columbia Falls, sponsored HB 359 with strong support from Republican lawmakers. Mitchell and other conservatives backing the bill said drag is inherently sexual and always inappropriate for kids.
"In my humble opinion, there's no such thing as a family friendly drag show.”
The fate of Pride this year was unclear. The city of Helena delayed granting permits for the event, worried public employees like police could be held liable for violating the law by working at Pride events. Drag performers marching in the parade on a city street while children were present could have been a violation of the new law.
Days before Pride started, a federal judge temporarily blocked the new law, saying it’s likely unconstitutional. The city then expedited all permits.
Mayor Wilmot Collins spoke in support of the LGBTQ+ community after the parade. "We must continue to fight against the lingering shadows of bigotry, hatred and inequality that still haunts us today."
Montana Book Company, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the drag ban, held two drag story hours following Saturday’s parade. Both events had audiences of over 50 people, including kids ranging from infants to teens.
Julie Rye brought her two young daughters to the story hour. "Pride for me is teaching my girls that they can be any color in the rainbow they want, or be an entire rainbow, or be a mermaid," she said.
Her daughter Bodie, wearing a sequined mermaid tail, said her favorite story from the hour was one about an underwater unicorn that grows up swimming in the ocean with narwhals. "It was very fun and they look so pretty."
Julie Yard is a drag queen from Great Falls. Wearing a rainbow ball gown many of the kids complimented her on, she says these story hours are her favorite part of Pride.
"When you hear the comments afterwards about, you know, parents who are struggling, even with their spouse, to raise a possible queer child, they bring those children here and those kids just get to see and hear that there's a welcoming, accepting community in their home state."
Yard says story hour is really an opportunity for kids to share how they feel, and to feel supported in that.
In his ruling, Judge Brian Morris said the bill likely violates the constitutional right to freedom of speech. The temporary block on the law will remain in place while a full lawsuit against the case moves forward later this month.
