Homer hits the streets to say ‘No Kings’

Homer residents on Saturday joined thousands of Alaskans who gathered in more than 25 towns across the state as part of a nationwide “No Kings” protest opposing the actions of the Trump administration.

The Alaska demonstrations joined around 2,000 protest in all 50 states, spearheaded by 50501, which describes itself as “a decentralized rapid response to the anti-democratic and illegal actions of the Trump administration and its plutocratic allies.” Organizers estimated that more than 5 million people attended the nationwide, NPR reported.

In Homer, WKFL (Wisdom, Knowledge, Faith and Love) Park was packed — nearly shoulder-to-shoulder at times — as community members gathered in support of the nationwide protests and in celebration of Pride Month.

“No Kings” demonstrators bore signs that read “No kings. No knaves. No jokers.”, “No one is illegal on stolen land” and “Grifter in chief.” They chanted “Hey hey, ho ho. Donald Trump has got to go”, “We’ve got liberty, we’ve got community” and “This is what democracy looks like” to a chorus of supportive car horns, as drivers passed by the busy intersections.

The crowd quickly stretched down both sides of the sidewalk of Pioneer Avenue, past the old Wild Berry Products building on one side and tapering toward the four-way intersection past the Fire Hall. Some overflowed across the street from WKFL Park. Around 700 demonstrators were counted at noon by the Homer News.

George Faust, a local senior citizen, said that today’s world is very different from the world he grew up in.

“I just wanted to say we’re capable of better,” Faust said, addressing the crowd from his wheelchair. “I appreciate the fact that you guys get the time to come out here and turn out for this, but I think if we’re going to make real progress in this country we all need to treat each other with kindness, respect our differences, and start working together. Otherwise, nothing’s going to start happening.”

Faust said he’s a little “mystified” at the actions of the current administration but remembered and quoted activist Rodney King: “Why can’t we all just get along?”

Marching with Pride

While officially two separate events, the Pride March and “No Kings” gatherings coincided at the park on Saturday afternoon. The Pride event included a march down Pioneer Avenue followed by a “Liberation Celebration” in the parking lot of the Kachemak Bay campus.

Winter Marshall-Allen with the Homer Organization for More Equitable Relations said on Saturday the Liberation Celebration has been Homer Pride’s flagship event since they first began organizing in 2017.

“This is how we honor our LGBTQ+ community, showing joy, solidarity, justice, rooted in the belief that none of us are free until all of us are free,” Marshall-Allen said to the assembled crowd of “No Kings” protesters and Pride celebrants.

Lindsey Wood with Homer Pride said that Pride isn’t about “special treatment,” it’s about visibility and survival.

“People love to ask, why isn’t there a straight Pride Month?” Wood said on Saturday. “Because straight, cis people aren’t kicked out of their homes for coming out. Because no one tells their straight kids they’re ‘too much’ or ‘too political’ or simply existing. Because no one is murdered for being straight. To every LGBTQIA+ youth who has been rejected: you’re not broken, you’re not a burden, and you do not need to become small to be loved. You deserve to be seen. You deserve joy. You deserve to be called by your real name.”

Wood said that every adult there that day could be the reason that a queer kid stays alive.

“You can be the voice that undoes the harm. You can be the safe person that says, ‘I love you no matter what. I see you as the person that you want to be.’ Be that person. Pride isn’t about rainbows. It’s about resistance. It’s about healing. It’s about radical love.”

Pastor Lisa Talbott of the Homer United Methodist Church said that generally when she speaks at community events she is very intentional about being inclusive, about honoring the full diversity of everyone’s beliefs and world views. But, in the face of the rising tide of Christian nationalism, she said on Saturday that she found herself being called to be “unapologetically Christian.”

“To show that there is an alternative Christian voice in this world — not one of extremism and violence, not one of false idols and patriotism, that parades as church — but another voice, a different one. A voice rooted in justice, love, mercy, peace and radical inclusion. A voice that says every person is sacred. A voice that remembers that Jesus did not build walls, he broke them down,” Talbott said to the enthusiastic crowd. “That is the gospel that I believe in. That is the faith that brings me here today. I believe in that Gospel of love and liberation, a gospel that tells us that every person is created in the image of God. Not in spite of who they are, but because of who they are.”

The Pride parade departed from WKFL around 12:30 p.m., streaming down Pioneer Avenue toward Svedlund Street and looping back around to the Kachemak Bay Campus parking lot for the official Liberation Celebration, which was hosted from 1 to 3 p.m.