SANDPOINT — Everyone belongs.

That, after all, is what makes a community a community. The disparate parts making up a beautiful whole.

That was the message behind the community's fifth annual Pride event, held Saturday in the Granary Arts District.

"I think it's just like anything else we hold dear in our heart," Andrea Marcaccio, one of the Sandpoint Pride organizers and a member of the Sandpoint Alliance For Equality, said. "We want people in our community to feel safe and welcome and this is a day just to do that, to show up, talk about what inclusivity means to everybody, not just some of us."

Marcaccio noted some recent studies in which a greater percentage of the country's youth report feeling isolated and alone.

According to researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only 58.5% of U.S. teens feel they always or typically get the social and emotional support they need. However, the researchers found that 93.1% of parents believed their child receives enough emotional and social support. In addition, a 2023 advisory by the U.S. Surgeon General called attention to what it said was a national "epidemic" of loneliness and social isolation.

"This is not just about LGBTQ-plus people," Marcaccio said of Pride's emphasis on gathering together to celebrate all of a community. "It's about interacting with our neighbors face to face, getting to know each other better, and having a good time."

From bingo games to face painting to family-friendly drag shows, the goal of the event is to have fun and celebrate inclusivity and equality, Marcaccio said.

Among the new events were a series of communication workshops hosted by SAFE and included topics such as learning conversational skills, First Amendment rights and storytelling from the LGBTQ+ perspective.

"We may not agree on everything but we do have things in common and having the tools to communicate that, express that, and still get along and be good neighbors in our community is a value of Sandpoint that we want to cherish," Marcaccio said.

The workshops were both well attended, attracting a wide spectrum of participants, but also provided a "caring and thoughtful space" for community members to engage, she added.

Also new this year was Pride Outside, held at the Pine Street Woods and which featured a pair of bike rides and a hike.

Marcaccio thanked the event's sponsors, noting that without their support Sandpoint Pride would not be possible. From donations to in-kind services, those efforts help the event broaden its scope and reach more people in different groups and ages.

That support allows SAFE to increase its visibility and reach more of the community, she said.

"We had questions like, 'Is there really a large queer population here?'" Marcaccio said. "And the answer is yes. It's just that we haven't had really a lot of exposure or communication and storytelling about that. That's why we ran those workshops, why we continued to grow and why we're expanding outside the boundaries of the Granary District."

The community has responded to SAFE's effort, helping expand Sandpoint's "bubble of love" beyond the community's boundaries and showing respect for Sandpoint Pride and LGBTQ+ members.

"We asked the question a couple of years ago of why does Pride feel so good?" Marcaccio said. "And people said it just feels really safe and inclusive and we wish it lasted longer and so the program SAFE is meant to reflect both the gaps and needs in our community, because there are serious challenges facing the trans and queer community but also to embrace love and joy."

Among the groups attending Saturday's Pride event was PFLAG Kootenai County Coeur d'Alene. While a new chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, the group's Ashley Spencer said its members make a point to attend Pride events in the reach both as a show of support but to offer its resources to those who want or need them.

It might be a grandparent of someone who just came out or it might be someone wanting to show support for a friend, but not knowing how to express it. PFLAG's goal is to help facilitate that communication and offer support.

That support can make a world of difference, Spencer said, smiling as she watched a mother and young daughter walk past the booth.

"All it takes is for one of those kids to someday go up to someone who is struggling and be like, 'It's OK. I understand you.' And then for that person, it could make all the difference in the world."

Fellow PFLAG board member Emily Petersen agreed. She encouraged everyone to approach others with acceptance and kindness.

"I think there's probably a lot of people out there that would love to do the right thing and just want to be a good ally but don't necessarily know the right words," Petersen said.

"They don't want to offend," Spencer added. "They're intimidated because they don't want to offend. Most LGBTQIA people you talk to are very open about helping people learn and educating as long as they know that you're a safe space."

Those wishing to know more about SAFE or Sandpoint Pride or the resources offered by either group can go to safe-idaho.org or sandpointpride.com.

    Members of Mighty Peace and Justice Activist Musical Rascals of Spokane Marching Band perform at Saturday's Sandpoint Pride event.
  

    Members of Mighty Peace and Justice Activist Musical Rascals of Spokane Marching Band perform at Saturday's Sandpoint Pride event.