Goldendale Councilor calls Pride event attempt ‘to erode and destroy our traditional values and morals’ — Columbia Community Connection News Mid-Columbia Region

Goldendale City Councilor’s Andrew Halm (pictured left) and Steve Johnston (pictured right) address one another in this still from Nancy Kusky’s video of the January 3rd, 2023 Goldendale City Council Meeting.

Editors Note: This piece may toe the line of being an op-ed piece for some readers who believe that objective truth means a truth that discounts the lived experiences of LGBTQ+ people in our communities.

However, at CCCNews we do not believe in perpetuating racism, homophobia, or inequality though discounting the experiences of minorities in pursuit of the nearly impossible goal of true ‘objectivity.’ Instead we focus on being ‘honest’ local news and creating solutions-minded reporting that lifts up our communities, supports equality, and honors our realities as individual human beings with individual objective truths.

Therefore, we will also be transparent in the fact that this article was written by an LGBTQ+ person who grew up in Columbia River Gorge, and has had decades worth of experience in recognizing and experiencing both covert and overt homophobia in our communities. This makes them both the most informed and most fit member of our team to write about the subjects addressed in this article. (View full Editor’s note at the end of this story)

By Cole Goodwin

Goldendale City Council approved $1,700 in tourism funding for Goldendale’s 3rd annual LGBTQ+ Pride Celebration which has drawn hundreds of people from around the region two years in a row.

But not before one councilor called the Pride event an attempt to erode and destroy traditional values and morals.

The decision, made at the January 3rd, 2023 meeting, passed with five council members in favor and one council member very decidedly- not in favor.

Councilor Steve Johnston, whose term ends in 2025, was the dissenting vote.

“I am not in favor of using public funds of any kind to promote an agenda that’s as divisive and contentious as this at any level,” said Johnston.

Johnston raised the stakes on the funding issue to the level of being a national battle in a “cultural war.”

“This country’s at war. It's not with a foreign adversary. It's a cultural war. And it’s fought on many fronts. There's a systematic assault by a radical progressive element to erode and destroy our traditional values and morals. One of the weapons of choice is sex. More specifically, sexual orientation and gender identity which has been weaponized and politicized,” said Jonston.

Steve Johnston (pictured right) addressing the council about LGBTQ+ Pride at the January 3rd, 2023 Goldendale City Council Meeting. Still from: Nancy Kusky’s video.

In discussion prior to the vote, Johnston attempted to pit a Kiwanis request for $762 in tourism funds for American flags against the Pride event’s request for funds.

He argued that the funding issue was a matter of American Pride and values vs LGBTQ+ Pride.

The City’s events subcommittee had previously denied Kiwanis request for the tourism funds on the basis that their application had not sufficiently explained how the flags impacted tourism.

“It would be a violation of our requirement of state law to purchase them based on the application and the application alone,” said Patrick Munyan, City Administrator during the discussion. “The thing is you’re supposed to encourage tourism up to 50 miles away. They presented no numbers of how that’s generating any tourism in the community… If they can demonstrate that in the future that’s fine, but they didn’t demonstrate it this time.”

Johnston argued that he found it troubling that the council had denied Kiwanis request for funds to upkeep symbols of American pride while also looking to vote on approving tourism funds for Pride.

Johnston accused the event of being a part of a larger boogie-man-like organization with an agenda that promotes “psychological manipulation and forced physical and chemical programs relative to gender identity for children.”

“With all due respect to the local folks that identify with the LGBT+. Community and our friends and neighbors. They are nevertheless charter members, but much larger organization,” said Johnston. “That sponsors and promotes such things as Drag queen performances in grade schools and libraries while those local institutions deny, deny faith-based presentations. Psychological manipulation and forced physical and chemical programs relative to gender identity for children.”

Johnston provided no proof in his presentation that such an organization exists or that such an organization had forced anyone to do anything against their will. Nor did he provide proof that all LGBTQ+ people in the Goldendale region are charter members of said organization.

Johnston then attempted to defend his baseless and fear-mongering statements which perpetuated myths about a nefarious “gay agenda.” He did so by perpetuating another myth: that proximity to LGBTQ+ people immunizes straight and cisgendered people from saying or doing homophobic things.

“I am not anti-gay,” said Johnston, adding he has “very good relations with gay members” and that he has “relatives that identify with LGBTQ” with whom he has always had “a very respectful” relationship with.

Following his presentation Johnston asked for a motion to approve the use of tourism funds to provide Kiwanis with money to maintain and replace decorative American flags that have fallen into disrepair

Andrew Halm, Goldendale’s first and only openly gay City Councillor, now in his 12th year of service to the City was the first to address Johnston’s comments.

Halm has been working hard to promote acceptance and celebrate LGBTQ+ community in Goldendale since 2021 when anti-LGBTQ+ vandalism promoted him into giving out free pride flags and helping to organize Goldendale’s first ever LGBTQ+ Pride event. Since then Goldendale Pride planners have worked to become a group of locals that work to provide resources, connections and outreach to the local community. Photo Credit: Cole Goodwin

Halm reminded Johnston that the purpose of the City’s tourism funds was to promote tourism and that an application must demonstrate the applicant’s ability to attract tourists.

“The Pride event is about bringing people together,” said Halm. “That event brought 350 people in 2021 and well over 200 people in 2022.”

“The goal of the funds from this money (the tourism budget) is to bring people to Goldendale. Both years we had people (in attendance) from Portland, Vancouver, Seattle, and Tri-Cities and all up and down the Gorge. That’s the point of this fund,” said Halm.

Halm also pointed out that the council had wanted to approve Kiwanis' request for funds. “I agree the (American) flags are great. We want to find a way to fund that, but for those funds it does not follow the guidelines.”

Halm also addressed Johnston’s discriminatory and hateful comments.

“I’m sorry your comments were very…in my eyes… very hateful and hurtful not only to me but to other people in this community,” said Halm.

Andrew Halm (center) addressing Steve Johnston during the January 3rd, 2023 City Council Meeting. Still from: Nancy Kusky’s video.

Halm shared an emotional personal testimony that attested to the importance of acceptance of diversity within a community, arguing that in addition to bringing people to Goldendale, Pride provides the community with potentially life-saving opportunities for local LGBTQ+ to feel seen, loved, accepted, and connected to one another.

More facts about LGBTQ+ suicide can be found at thetrevorproject.org.

“Twelve years ago I was out on highway 97 going 75 miles an hour wanting to wreck my car into a semi because I wanted to end my life, because I was gay and I was afraid to come out. The last two years, I have learned a lot of stories in this community (about) the same thing - people wanting to kill themselves,” said Halm.

“We have brought joy to this community by putting this event on; smiles on people’s faces, and that’s what Pride’s about,” said Halm. “It’s not about what you’re talking about. It’s about music. It’s about food. It’s about community. It’s about getting people together to have a good night and celebrate who they are without being persecuted.”

Halm also brought up the importance of LGBTQ+ people having accepting spaces, such as Pride, in the face of ongoing homophobia in the community, the county, the state, and the nation.

“If I have a partner with me, and I want to hold his hand going down the street, I have to fear persecution for it…You can walk down the street with your wife right now and nothing’s said… I have to watch my back everyday. That’s why Pride is celebrated,” said Halm to Johnston.

Johnston minimized the reality of homophobia’s existence in the community, saying that Halm was persecuted for “lots of reasons”.

Johnston also admitted that he felt “maybe I’ve been in the closet here” on the issue, and said he felt that LGBTQ+ he knew were already accepted “reasonably well” in the community.*

*Editors Note: One might speculate that what Johnston really meant was that he was “in the dark” on the issue which is a common English phrase used to express being in a state of ignorance on a subject. This would make more sense, as in modern English the phrase being “in the closet” refers to being a non-heterosexual person who has not revealed their sexual identity to others. I.e. “Bob is still in the closet.”

Halm pushed back against Johnston, pointing out that he’d failed to acknowledge Goldendale Pride’s role in raising awareness and increasing acceptance in the community.

Halm also gave a brief explanation of the origins of pride - see sidebar below.

Other council members also weighed in on Johnston’s motion to approve the Kiwanis funds based solely on “American traditions and values.”

Council member Filberto Ontiveros reminded Johnston that tourism funds were being allocated based on the merit of their application, and ability to provide data showing their impact on tourism. And Ontiverios said that discriminating against the Pride application based on sexual or gender identity rather than merit would be considered illegal.

Ontiveros also pointed out the danger of lumping complex individuals that identify at LGBTQ+ into a generalized group and labeling them as having an adversarial agenda. He also pointed out that the event, which has now been held for two years in a row, had never been “obscene in nature”.

Councilor Dave Jones also defended the merits of the Goldendale Pride event’s application.

“If you look at the application, they’ve check marked everything we want,” he said. “Based on the merit of the applications, there was no reason not to fund it.”

“I’ve seen more nonsense at the bars than at the Pride,” added Ontiveros.

The majority of the council including Halm attempted to convey to Johnston that they were in favor of funding the flags. And one city council member assured him that the events subcommittee had planned to find a way to approve Kiwanis request “from the get go” - just not from the tourism fund.

The council then voted to approve a motion to fund Kiwanis' request for $762* through the General fund as opposed to the tourism fund.

*While the amount in the video is said to be $762, City officials confirmed today that the actual amount landed at around $2,388.

Following that vote, council voted to approve the allocation of $1,700 in tourism funds to the Pride event.

Johnston cast the lone dissenting vote.

For the record, A City Councilor voting not to allocate City tourism funds to a Pride event based on sexuality and gender identity which is a protected federal class is considered both discrimination and homophobia.

Following the vote, Johnston apologized to Halm.

“Actually what I’d like to do is apologize to Andy, and any of the other members of the group that are moderate. Just because a person belongs to a fraternity or a particular organization, doesn’t mean that they agree with all the policies,” said Johnston. “...I used the gay pride issue to do a comparison with the Kiwanis issue and, I say: if I’ve offended anybody I do apologize.”

Halm accepted Johnston’s apology by saying “Thank you, Steve.”

“I’ll just comment that maybe I got a little too angry but it’s just that - I didn’t have a voice twelve years ago, and I’m speaking up for people that can’t speak up, and that’s my goal, and that’s the goal of pride,” said Halm.

Johnston responded saying “I understand, and I respect that.”

Several members of the council applauded the council’s willingness to have the discussion despite the difficulty of the conflict.

You can watch the full City Council meeting here or on Youtube. Johnston’s presentation begins around the 56:25 minute mark in the video. The Goldendale City Council Agenda and Packet for the January 3rd, 2023 meeting is available here.

Do you know what Pride is about?

Pride month celebrates and affirms the accomplishments and contributions of LGBTQ+ Americans, the birth of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement, honors LGBTQ+ people who have died as a result of hate crimes, and commemorates the anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising.

The Stonewall Uprising was a six-day series of events, riots, and rebellions which occurred in response to near constant police harassment and raids of gay bars in New York city during the 1960’s. At the time gay bars were one of the only safe(sish) public places for LGBTQ+ individuals in New York City to congregate and be themselves together, provided they weren’t currently being raided.

The uprising occurred on June 28th of 1969 when patrons of the Stonewall Inn, tired of being arrested, assaulted, and forced to reveal their genitals to police if they were suspected of violating the state’s gender-appropriate clothing statute (New York Penal Code 240.35) rose up to fight back against discrimination, harassment, and excessive use of force.

On that night, instead of dispersing during the raid, staff and patrons of the Stonewall Inn gathered outside the bar. Outside of Stonewall, the police arrested and assaulted a mixed race butch lesbian named Storme DeLarverie, hitting her over the head as she was being forced into the back of a police van.

DeLarverie shouted back to the crowd “Aren’t you going to do something?”

DeLarverie’s cry rallied the crowd, including LGBTQ+ rights leaders Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera and the crowd began throwing whatever they had at the police, including nickels, dimes, and pennies. Their show of dissent set the stage for five nights of riots in which LGBTQ+ people clashed with police in a fight for their right to love who they love, wear gender affirming clothing, and exist in public spaces, free from prosecution.

Photo Caption: In 2016 the Stonewall Inn, Christopher park and surrounding area was named a national monument in recognition of the area’s significance in the long fight for LGBTQ+ equality. Photo Credit:

EDITOR’s Note

This piece may toe the line of being an op-ed piece for some readers who believe that objective truth means a truth that discounts the lived experiences of LGBTQ+ people in our communities.

However, at CCCNews we do not believe in perpetuating racism, homophobia, or inequality though discounting the experiences of minorities in pursuit of the nearly impossible goal of true ‘objectivity.’ Instead we focus on being ‘honest’ local news and creating solutions-minded reporting that lifts up our communities, supports equality, and honors our realities as individual human beings with individual objective truths.

After all, every human being who has not achieved total spiritual enlightenment is subject to their own ‘objective truth’. Each person’s objective truth is a compilation of their experiences, values, belief systems, judgements, perceptions, and information available to them at the time. Therefore readers would do well to be reminded that even the most “objective'' seeming of news will always contain some form of human bias…but that bias in and of itself is not always nefarious.

For example, bias in a piece can look like: ‘I love my community soo much. I want to celebrate it! And show my community compassion! But I also want to hold the community accountable to being the best version of itself because I live here too, and I deserve to have a seat at this table we are all gathered around.’

Likewise attempts at ‘objectivity’ are not always benevolent.

For example, in recent years, many people of color have argued that supposed ‘objectivity’ in news reporting is actually a form of whitewashing which perpetuates racist and homophobic ideologies. This has lead activists to call upon the media to produce more anti-racist and anti-homophobic reporting which is courageous enough to clearly define racism and homophobia for what it is when it appears in the news.

This is why, at CCCNews.com, we encourage minorities to tell their own stories.

Therefore, we will also be transparent in the fact that this article was written by an LGBTQ+ person who grew up in Columbia River Gorge, and has had decades worth of experience in recognizing and experiencing both covert and overt homophobia in our communities. In fact, you could say that in some ways-they are practically a specialist in this field, which makes them both the most informed and fit member of our team in regards to writing about the subjects addressed in this article.

Indeed, much like you wouldn’t send your gossip columnist to report on a war when you already have an embedded war correspondent, or send your war correspondent to report on a city council meeting when you already have a reporter assigned to the city beat who knows the issues intimately, you also wouldn’t (and shouldn’t) send a heterosexual cisgendered man to report on gay rights when you have an embedded LGBTQ+ person on your staff who understands the issues intimately. (Provided they are safe and have the capacity to withstand and report on interactions with homophobic individuals. Employers should take note that such interactions can take a toll on your staff’s health, mental and emotional well being.)