“Our town has LGBTQIA history going back decades,” said Jolene Beilstein, co-organizer of the Occidental Pride: OUT in the Woods festival, held annually on the last Saturday of September. “Our mission is to celebrate and maintain Occidental as a safe space for all nature-loving people from our community.”
Co-organizer Chris Lewis added, “Pride is entirely community-funded with the help of our fiscal sponsor, the Occidental Community Council. Many of our businesses in town are queer-owned, and we have a vibrant community of trans and genderqueer folks. We all deserve to exist in these rural parts of the country.”
OUT in the Woods will take place this year on Saturday, Sept. 27, at the Occidental Community Center, one week after Russian River Pride in Guerneville. Led by an Indigenous opening blessing, the festival promises a festive, inclusive, family-friendly day of live music, art, crafts, food, drinks and dancing…