Battle Ground Pride brings day of unity for LGBTQ

Hundreds of guests attended Evoke Cascadia’s annual Battle Ground Pride celebration at the Community Center on Saturday, July 27. Drag performers and guests from around Clark County participated in a lipsync contest, which gathered a large audience. Services, including Vancouver’s Queer Youth Resource Center, had booths at the event. Jessica Cole, president of Evoke Cascadia, explained one of the organization’s goals is to educate the local community that housing, financial and legal resources are available for the LGBTQ community. To learn more about Evoke Cascadia and its events, go to evokecascadia.org.

“The importance is, there have always been LGBTQ people. There always will be LGBTQ people,” Cole said. “It's good to bring awareness and education for people who might not know much about LGBTQ [and] to show support to our LGBTQ friends, families, neighbors, loved ones that we accept them how they are, and they're a benefit in our lives and community.”