Why Pride banners aren’t going up in Wenatchee this year

WENATCHEE — A new set of banners set to be hung in downtown Wenatchee this June is drawing sharp reactions across the community, as a shift in the city’s banner policy coincides with the absence of Pride displays that have appeared in past years.

The banners, submitted by a local chapter of Turning Point USA, promote “America’s Family Month” during June, a period widely recognized as Pride Month across the United States.

In previous years, banners recognizing Pride Month have been installed downtown, typically sponsored by NCW Equity Alliance. Those banners will not appear in 2026.

The change has prompted criticism online and concern from LGBTQIA+ residents and allies, particularly given Turning Point USA’s designation as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center and its public opposition to policies supporting LGBTQ inclusion.

At the same time, city officials say the outcome reflects a procedural shift rather than a policy decision about Pride itself.

Wenatchee Police Chief and City Administrator Edgar Reinfeld said the city has had “a lot of discussions since last fall” about how to handle banner requests, ultimately adopting what he described as an “everybody or nobody” approach. In fact, Reinfeld said, groups that had hung banners in the past were notified in advance of the new approach, while groups new to such requests were not given advance warning.

Under the updated system, banner space is available on a first-come, first-served basis, with applications required to be complete before they are accepted.

Reinfeld said NCW Equity Alliance did submit a timely application for Pride banners this year, but it was incomplete and the group did not immediately respond to requests for additional information. In the meantime, the Turning Point USA application was submitted in full, making it the first eligible request under the new policy.

He characterized the situation as largely a “timing issue,” noting that other groups, including organizers of the Apple Blossom Festival, were also asked to correct incomplete applications but were able to do so quickly enough to retain their place in line.

The result, he said, was not a rejection of Pride-related messaging, but the outcome of a process designed to treat all applicants equally.

That distinction has done little to ease frustration among community members who see the absence of Pride banners, and their replacement with messaging from a politically active group opposed to LGBTQ inclusion, as more than procedural, even if that messaging isn’t necessarily political in nature.

While the banners themselves do not contain explicit language targeting any group, Reinfeld said the city would not have approved displays that violated established legal limits on speech. At the same time, he acknowledged that many forms of controversial expression remain protected in public spaces.

The banner policy also operates separately from other forms of city recognition. Reinfeld said proclamations, including those recognizing Pride Month, must be requested by the groups they represent and remain available through the city’s usual process.

Plans for Wenatchee Pride events, including the upcoming festival at Lincoln Park, have not changed.

Looking ahead, Reinfeld said the city may reconsider the banner program altogether in light of the current controversy.

“We may in the future go to no banners,” he said.

Such a move would mirror a recent decision by the City of East Wenatchee, which adopted a more restrictive policy limiting banners to city-sponsored events and official observances after facing its own disputes over which messages could be displayed.

Wenatchee’s current approach was intended to avoid selectively approving or rejecting groups, a goal that has produced a different kind of public debate.

In short, everyone knows that June is Pride Month in America, ever since President Clinton issued the first proclamation at the federal level 27 years ago. And Pride groups in Wenatchee can still have an official proclamation from the City for the month of June, if they submit the necessary request.

But for now, an issue of timing has edged out the banners that have lined Wenatchee Avenue in years past. Those banners were never an official endorsement of any group by the City, and the City says it is certainly not rejecting those groups now.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media