TRUCKEE, Calif. – In Truckee Pride’s second year as a nonprofit and third year as an event, the events have only continued to expand. With continued federal attacks on the LGBTQ+ community and other diverse groups, many organizers of this year’s event felt it was a powerful time to come together and celebrate connection, unity and love.

Adaptive athletes

Truckee Pride has grown again, adding a new roster of events to the already stacked week. One of those events celebrated adaptive athletes with a day of activity at Woodward, organized by Erika Etling.

Etling works with High Fives, an adaptive sports foundation that provides resources to those who experience life-changing injuries. As their event coordinator, she said “It was a no brainer to create an event like this that supports people coming exactly as they are.”

Like Truckee Pride, High Fives started as a grassroots group that expanded into a nonprofit, which Etling appreciates deeply. “These are both things that are very personal to me.”

Etling shared that while growing up, she was surrounded by a culture that encouraged black and white thinking and rejected differences. But she was called to create places for people to be themselves—especially after she came out in her late twenties. “I really wanted to become a safe space for people, where people could let go of their shame about who they are. I still want to open doors for people to feel comfortable and confident in what they do and who they are.”

Her support for adaptive athletes and for the LGBTQ+ community feels in alignment to her. Creating an event like this opened the door for those who belong to those communities, as well as those who want to offer their support. “At the end of the day we are all in alignment. It is so critical for us to have spaces where people don’t feel different, to expand our community. So let’s expand the pride community to involve adaptive athletes and others with disabilities. There shouldn’t be a barrier.”

Sophie Coudrier, one of the attendees of the event, said, “An event like this is an expression of queer joy and belonging. Many pride events are not inclusive of queer people with disabilities,” adding that queer athletes are also excluded by that lack of consideration. “Pride events should take accessibility into account, and I hope to see more inclusive events in the future at Truckee Pride.”

Pride Parade

Like last year, youth continue to stay involved in Truckee Pride. This year’s Pride Parade was organized by Robyn Vayner, an eighth grader who’s been involved in activism, organizing a class walk out earlier this year.

“I’ve never done anything on this scale… but Truckee Pride’s organizers have been really helpful,” said Vayner. “I always wanted to go to a pride parade and to create an event focused on happiness and hope.”

Creating an event like this, which is standard in so many pride celebrations, was meaningful to Vayner because of that tradition. “Pride parades have always been around,” they said. “If it happens here, it can happen anywhere.”

Vayner especially cares about young people advocating for a better world. “Our generation should be making our voices heard. There are a lot of issues that the older generation hasn’t addressed and I think we should be trying to fix mistakes from those past generations.”

“I believe that events like this can bring communities together,” they said. “And if this many people care, it’s important to show up and make your presence known.”

Pride Shabbat

Pride Shabbat has been a mainstay of Truckee Pride since its beginnings, and welcomes everyone to eat and attend the services. Shabbat marks the “rest day” of the Jewish week, beginning at sundown on Friday evening. Since the temple for the north shore is in Tahoe City, the Church of the Mountains hosts the event, showing interfaith support.

Rabbi Lauren Ben-Shoshan, a rabbi of the Tahoe Jewish Community, said that this event is something deeply important to her and the Jewish community here. “This is something near and dear to my heart and I’ve had many years of activism in this space. To me, it was clear that the Jewish community had to be there at Pride.”

Ben-Shoshan said, “Every human being is a human being. In Judaism, we are commanded to see ourselves as the lowest and to have compassion for what that means. When people come out, they often have not felt honored in who they are—and I want to honor that experience.”

The event was initially introduced by Nubbia Greninger, and the congregation has been behind it. “There’s a real sense of pride around Pride,” said Ben-Shoshan. Greninger’s daughter, Bella, even led a prayer during the shabbat service and will be having her bat mitzvah this year.

Jason Toups, one of the organizers for the Pride Shabbat, will also be celebrating a b-mitzvah in the future, as he is converting to Judaism. Toups said that the event was met with “immediate welcome and support” and that acceptance has been massively important.

“Events like these are so unique and it feels special that it can happen here,” said Toups. Community participation is a key part of the event, welcoming people who “yearn for connection” as Toups put.

At Pride Shabbat, it’s been a tradition to have a community member do the d’var Torah, a reading based on the teachings of the Torah. This year, Toups gave the reading, based on a passage where God orders Moses to make two silver trumpets, used to call the congregation together.

“We cannot build community in darkness and silence,” said Toups. He recounted that during the week, an anonymous person had torn down the rainbow flags that showed the way to one of the events—which has happened before, when Truckee first put up their pride banners.

So, Toups connected Pride to the trumpets of the passage. “Let Pride be a call to bring our camps together… let it remind us to be heard and seen.” He called for all communities to unite and support one another.

Truckee Pride continues to advocate for unity and community building throughout the year, not just during Pride Month. And people feel called to speak up for the LGBTQ+ community and others.

“We keep pushing the limits and seeing this event grow,” said Etling. “We need that perseverance and persistence. We can’t fight for equality if we’re not continuing to speak up.”

For more information on Truckee Pride, you can visit their website at https://www.truckeepride.org/ or follow them on Instagram @truckeepride.

Eli Ramos is a reporter for Tahoe Daily Tribune. They are part of the 2024–26 cohort of California Local News Fellows through UC Berkeley.