Council kicks off Diné Pride celebration June 20

WINDOW ROCK

On Monday, June 20, at 11 a.m., Speaker Seth Damon will be signing a proclamation to commemorate national LGBTQ+ Pride Month and kick off Diné Pride Week at the Navajo Nation Council Chamber.

“We look forward to hosting the largest Indigenous LGBTQ+ Pride celebration again this year,” said Diné Pride Finance Director Brennen Yonnie. “All are welcome to join us in this celebration of love. June is Pride Month, so be proud of who you are.”

In 2020, the Council proclaimed the third week in June as annual Diné Pride Week by passing a resolution that states the Navajo government will protect its citizens from discrimination and foster and preserve a culture of inclusion, fairness and equality.

“The Council Chamber is the people’s house, and all are welcome here – including our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and Two-Spirit family members,” said Damon.

Marriage equality

This could also be a watershed year for LGBTQ+ rights and policy on Navajo Nation because legislation currently being developed by delegates Eugene Tso and Nathanial Brown would repeal a section of the Diné Marriage Act of 2005 to “acknowledge and recognize” marriage equality among “all people” including same-sex couples.

If all goes as planned, the bill is expected to be heard during the Council’s summer session.

“It is now time we review Navajo law to ensure it provides necessary LGBTQ+ protections, including marriage equality for all,” said Damon. “Our citizens should have the right to choose who they love and be respected and accepted here within our great Navajo Nation.”

Brown said lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender family members are part of Diné sacred oral stories and continue to hold important roles as leaders, medicine people, and healers.

“Long before the forced Christian removal of our children to boarding schools, or the Stonewall riots, the Civil Rights Movement, and the fight to recognize marriage equality, it was our Indigenous nations that recognized and protected our existence as LGBTQIA+ family members since time immemorial,” said Diné Pride Executive Director Alray Nelson.

“We are reclaiming our traditional knowledge and our right to be who we are,” he said.

Brown said the marriage equality legislation being drafted affirms the Navajo Nation’s commitment to Sa’ah Naagháí Bik’eh Hózhóó and the respect bestowed upon the LGBTQ+ community before European colonizers arrived.

“We need to go back to see everyone as our equal and to heal from the generational trauma that divides us,” said Brown.

“It is now time that we share compassion for our daughters, sons, brothers, sisters, aunts, and uncles who are proud LGBTQ+ Diné people,” he said. “They are our beloved relatives and Navajo law should reflect it.”

Schedule of events

Amidst the ongoing pandemic, Yonnie said Diné Pride will be hosting both virtual and outdoor in-person events that are safe and family-friendly:

The Diné Pride Week schedule is as follows:

• Monday, June 20, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., opening ceremony with a virtual roundtable featuring Diné Pride champions and Naat’aanii leadership honorees.
• Tuesday, June 21, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., “Loud and Proud” virtual roundtable sharing priorities and perspectives from Indigenous, LGBTQ+ and Two-Spirit leaders.
• Wednesday, June 22, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Nááts’íilid Scholarship Ceremony, a virtual roundtable featuring Nááts’íilid Rainbow Scholars, CAN Community Health Presentation and a screening of the “Mr. Navajo” film documentary with Zachariah George.
• Thursday, June 23, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., marriage and the future, a virtual roundtable where trends in Native LGBTQ+ advocacy, policy and law will be discussed.
  (All virtual roundtable events will be broadcast live on the Navajo Nation Pride Facebook page and posted on YouTube)
• Friday, June 24, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., outdoor “Sovereign Sacredness Drag Show” will feature drag entertainers along with another historic “Rainbow Lighting” at the Navajo Nation Council Chamber after sunset.
• Saturday, June 25, Diné Pride Week culminates with the “Diné Pride Parade” that will start at 10 a.m. at the Navajo Nation Museum parking lot. Marchers and floats will make their way to the Navajo Nation Council Chamber.
• On Saturday afternoon, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., the “One Nation Festival” will occur in the parking lot by the Window Rock Veterans Memorial Park, with live entertainment, speakers, vendors, food trucks and more.

“You will always have me as a champion for our LGBTQ+ family members whose human rights must be protected under Navajo law,” said Delegate Charlaine Tso.

“Everyone is entitled to choose how they love and make their commitment to their soulmate,” she said. “The presence of our LGBTQ+ family members must be acknowledged and respected.”

To volunteer or participate in Diné Pride Week events or reserve a booth for the “One Nation Festival,” visit: www.navajonationpride.com

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