Affirmation at First-Ever Rexburg Pride: A Historic Moment
by Joel McDonald
When Flourish Point first reached out to Affirmation about participating in the first-ever Rexburg Pride, they were thinking they’d maybe have 100 to 200 people attend. A couple of weeks later, they were estimating possibly 400 to 500. On the day of the event, June 26th, over 1,000 people turned out.
“There was more support than we could have ever imagined,” Flourish Point spokesman Brooks McFadden told EastIdahoNews.com. “And we were able to see a lot of unity here. People who were able to just talk and get to know each other. It just goes to show the need for kindness and love and acceptance and to see that goal be accomplished here is incredible.”
Affirmation was there. After receiving the invitation to participate, and knowing how important it was that Affirmation be there, I reached out to our members in Eastern Idaho seeking volunteers to represent Affirmation as a booth in the park and during the walk. We were fortunate to have Steven Frei fromIdaho Falls and Martin Kokol from Victor step up to represent Affirmation at this historic event. I worked with these volunteers to make sure they had the materials and support they needed to make it a successful event.
Affirmation President Nathan Kitchen and his husband Matt Rivera traveled from Arizona to attend the event, knowing how significant it was for a Pride event to be held in the backyard of Brigham Young University-Idaho. “It was a historic moment,” Nathan shared. “I am humbled and proud to have witnessed it in my lifetime: a Pride celebration, with over 1000 people in attendance, in Rexburg, Idaho.”
