Colorful display of pride takes over Sunset Park

Gray skies didn’t put a damper on a colorful display of pride at Sunset Park.

A few dozen people gathered Saturday afternoon for the second annual Rainbow Run, an event celebrating the LGBTQ+ community and pride month with a color run and pet parade afterward.

The event was sponsored by Gray Canine, a pet training business.

Gray Canine owner Whitney Grey, one of the organizers of the event, added the pet parade to expand this year’s festivities.

“I wanted to add the pet parade because everybody loves their pets, and that’s my business, and wanted to have a lot more going on so we could include more of the community,” she said.

Gray’s dogs, River and Macaroni, donned rainbow costumes for the walk around the park.

Attendees came decked with pride flags, flower crowns, and rainbow face paint, many with dogs in tow.

Kids and adults walked around Sunset Park dressed in white, and other volunteers sprayed them with brightly colored paint, turning the crowd rainbow from head-to-toe.

Gray, who grew up in Washington, said she knew many LGBT people who lost their homes growing up because they weren’t accepted.

“It’s really important as myself being bisexual and knowing a lot of friends that lost their homes, it’s really important to me to make sure we’re raising awareness and community in this area for LGBT and youth,” she said.

Deja Willers brought rainbow masks to the event — she attended last year’s rainbow run, and hoped the masks would help to keep paint out of noses and mouths.

She said the Rainbow Run helped her to meet a community of like-minded people — something she’d only been able to find on the internet before.

“It is hard being gay in a small town like this, especially in such a church-centered town,” she said. “A lot of us got picked on really badly, whether it’s just for expression — some of us don’t exactly fit in the gender stereotype box.”

Eric Sutherland, a friend of Gray’s, attended the event with his daughter to support Gray.

He says his kids aren’t fully decided on their identity — and the rainbow run is a chance for them to try things out and express themselves.

“With my kids, they are not fully decided. We let them feel it out — that’s what this is: to meet other people, feel out, decide, express,” he said. “And then when they get older, maybe they’ll decide, maybe they won’t.”