Mendocino County’s annual Pride celebration is coming to Ukiah on July 8 and 9. We caught up with Porter Dinehart, leader of last year’s Pride Parade and one of the organizers with Mendocino Pride Alliance, which is coordinating the Pride festivities, to learn more about the event. What’s the Pride Parade like here in Ukiah?

“We come as we are. We come with shirts, costumes, rouge — you know, it’s just like a regular parade,” she said. “And what gives it a difference is that this is a hometown event — or, you know, for Mendocino County. It still has that hometown feel. But it also has a unity factor — even people that are not in the so-called LGBTQ [community] get involved as well. It’s very inclusive of everybody.”

The Pride event begins with a no-host dinner at the Ukiah Brewing Company and Restaurant on Saturday, July 8, starting at 7:30; then, from 10 till 2, there will be a DJ dance with no cover charge.

The Pride March starts Sunday morning, July 9, at the corner of North State and Scott streets, near Black Oak Coffee. People will gather at 10:30 to march along the sidewalk of State Street at 11 to Alex R. Thomas Jr. Plaza, where there will be booths of all kinds, including food booths, nonprofit booths, booths designed to raise awareness about social issues, and vendors.

Ford Street Project, Mendocino County Health and Human Services, and The Arbor’s Project Sanctuary will be among the organizations represented.

There will also be a stage where a local youth band will perform, a talent show and “a lightweight drag show.”

Dinehart said the theme of this year’s Pride Parade is inclusivity.

“The main thing is to be inclusive of everyone and just say, this [LGBTQ] community in Mendocino County is just like everybody else. We have families. We do events. We’re here. Let’s all come together. I think that’s always been our motto, coming together.”

But with so much turmoil in Washington these days, there could hardly be a celebration of diversity without some form of active resistance to the status quo — that’s why the fourth annual Pride Parade in Ukiah bears the title “Resist and Thrive with Pride.”

“It’s more for awareness of what’s going on in our whole community and our whole government — what’s happening right now,” said Dinehart. “And this year, we’re going to resist and thrive!”

Dinehart is looking forward to coming together with other members of the community who wish to celebrate diversity at this year’s Pride Parade and hopes that the parade, which has steadily grown each year, will continue to be a fun and inclusive event for Mendocino County.

“We’re just like anybody else in this community. We love our community. And we want to show our pride.”