When Denver Pride pops off at Civic Center Park this weekend, it will feature a special area specifically for the under-21 attendees named Youth Alley. A small army of volunteers armed with rainbow-colored umbrellas and noise-cancelling headphones to distribute will be standing watch, ensuring that youngsters will be shielded from any hateful protesters.
Those volunteers are the Parasol Patrol, a grassroots effort founded in 2019 after a spate of protests when Mile High Comics began hosting Drag for All Ages events at its legendary warehouse. Parasol Patrol cofounder Eli Bazan was at that first event and saw fewer than a dozen protesters. But still, with people yelling about grooming and pedophilia, Bazan felt compelled to protect the kids there by giving them earmuffs and shielding them from the protesters with umbrellas.
Bazan’s partner and cofounder of Parasol Patrol, Pasha Ripley, says the number of protesters at each drag event at Mile High kept increasing, so they recruited helpers via social media. “With only eight days’ notice, we had over 100 people turn out,” Ripley recalls. “And here they come — the trifecta: Proud Boys, Goyim Defense League, and the Traditional Workers Party. They were a little surprised when the 60 or 70 of them came around the corner and there were a hundred of us, enough to create a wall of umbrellas between the parking area and the front floor.”…