June 16, 2025 • 28 mins
In this episode of Joyously Free!, host Joanie Lindenmeyer talks with Thomas Kelem, director of Del Norte and Tribal Lands Pride, to discuss the upcoming Pride celebration in Crescent City on June 21st and Lindenmeyer’s book talk at the Del Norte Public Library on June 19th. The conversation highlights themes of community, inclusivity, resilience, and […]
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(00:11):
Hi. Welcome KCIW
listeners at one hundred point seven and and
kciw.org
in Brookings, Oregon.
Welcome to the joyously free radio show, also
known as the Gaydio Show, my by my
queer family. And, yes, it's with me, none
better than Joni Lindenmeyer,
a resident of Harbor, Oregon for thirty four
years and a best selling author of, yes,
(00:32):
none better. Well, today, we always start our
morning greetings in the same way. It's a
saying that Carol and I invented in our
forty year love life. I start by saying
it's a brand new day. You, the listeners,
and my guest here will get to respond
with never been lived before.
So it's a brand new day. Never been
(00:52):
lived before. Oh my gosh. You have such
a great voice, Tom. Oh, yep. I already
gave a a clue out to all the
listeners. Yes. Tom is with me today. So,
anyways, this radio gatios show is a show
that talks about LGBTQ
stories, tips, along with religion, church, faith, and
spirituality.
Simply put, it's about joy and freedom and
courage and love, confidence and collaboration.
(01:16):
It came about because I wrote another book
called Joyously Free, and that was written and
coauthored with Elizabeth Ann Atkins of 2sisterswriting.com.
And we are proud to boast 32 contributing
writers, many from local areas here of Brookings,
Gold Beach, and Crescent City. You will get
to hear many of them. But today, we
have another special guest that is definitely one
(01:37):
that seeks understanding,
never has a box to think into, and
he is full of love and gratefulness just
like all of us are on the Southern
Oregon Coast.
Today, we're gonna start with our prayer, and
the prayer is really simple.
It's
let all the earth cry out to God
with joy. It's a responsorial
(01:57):
Psalm.
So let us close our eyes,
breathe in with hope,
and out with doubt.
Breathe in with solace.
Breathe out with any negativity.
And breathe in,
(02:20):
knowing that we are all divine
creatures.
Yes, the Psalm says, let all the earth
cry out to God with joy.
When I read that this morning in my
prayer corner,
all I could think about was a circling,
rotating
Earth.
(02:41):
All the different oceans,
rivers, lakes,
creatures,
human,
animals,
sea life,
all of them crying out to God saying
joy,
joy,
joy.
We are alive.
We are healthy. We are breathing.
We all make a difference in this world.
(03:03):
Diversity is what it's all about.
From trees to deserts,
from people of different nationalities and ethnicities,
sexual identities,
we are all
crying out to God with joy.
Those are my little thoughts for today, and
that brings us to the point of a
great person I have sitting across from me,
(03:25):
a special, special guest who brings about diversity
in so many ways.
I thank God for him. I thank God
for you, the listeners today,
that today we will get to spirit experience
spiritual divinity
as well as humanity.
Let me introduce you to
(03:45):
a friend for many years,
Tom Kellum.
He is the director of the Del Norte
and Tribal Lands Pride. That's Crescent City if
you're looking for the location.
He has a heart of gold. He has
a background of working with people,
empowering people,
and bringing the best out of people.
(04:06):
He is a a man that I just
he's my centered soul in this area.
Tom, thank you for being here.
Thank you.
That's a lot to take in. It is.
It is. But you you are Thank you.
You are such a special person and you
you influence us and and not just me,
(04:27):
but so many of us in in Del
Norte County and in Brookings.
You influence us so so very much. You
know? That's wonderful to hear. Yeah. Thank you.
You know, and one of the things you've
influenced is that Pride is coming up June
21 here in Crescent City at the United
Methodist Church, and I know you'll be able
to give us more details about what pride
is and where it is and how it
(04:47):
came about or whatever you wanna talk about.
But in relation to that, my joyously free
book will be
a talk I will be giving at the
Del Norte Public Library
on June 19 from four to six with
the topic authenticity
and resilience.
Because when you know who you are and
you are joyful and you are resilient and
(05:09):
you are courageous,
then you can share that to other people,
And that's what the book is about. So
I'm so happy to be able to be
at and mark it on your calendars, everybody.
June 19 from four to six, I will
be there, authenticity and resiliency with all my
books. But besides all my books The library.
At the library.
In in Crescent City. You got it. Right.
(05:30):
You got it. The library there is super
supportive. It's amazing.
Yes. And Phyllis, the library director, and Robin,
who works inside. And I know that the
the
the queer community uses the library oftentimes for
movies once a month and some other activities
as well. Super, super supportive. Super supportive. I
mean, and that's that's one of the things
that that has just been really,
(05:55):
I don't know, just
maybe filling me with joy. That that might
be a a good way to express it
is,
you know, coming into pride this year,
there was some hesitation, hesitation, a little bit
of fear. What's it gonna be like this
year? The climate has kinda changed.
Mhmm. And, you know,
(06:16):
and the amount of of support, which even
feels like more support than last year, which
was our year doing pride.
More people in various parts of the community
are, like, saying, hey. Yeah. We we wanna
be part of pride, and and
Pride is like this great thing. Yes. You
know, more businesses
(06:37):
are like putting up our posters, and we
have more sponsors,
and that just feels really, really good. It
it really has, like, reassured me that things
are moving in the right direction.
Yes. And that whatever's going on on the
big screen
isn't really
affecting some of the little stuff. I mean,
and I think it's the little stuff that
(06:58):
makes a difference.
And that to me, we are being on
the forefront of change
as a queer community, but also as a
strong ally supportive community like you just said.
And so we're not making the divisions.
We are making one
centered entirety
of of wholeness.
Yeah. And that's been really my message for
(07:20):
this year
is like, it's not about,
arguing
or fighting or
in any way
increasing the divides that are already existing,
but to find the common things.
And find
the way that we can all, like, touch
base with our humanity, touch base with our
(07:41):
compassion,
touch base with our
sense of peace and love.
And, you know, everybody has that.
Yeah. A lot of times, it's hidden behind
all kinds of other stuff, and and there's
a lot of surface stuff that gets in,
you know, people's way and in their lives.
But, you know, at the core, people are
(08:02):
really, really good.
And I think that
the love that they have comes through,
and you see it in emergencies.
Yes. Yes. You know? Yes. I mean, and
that really hit me a couple of years
ago when we had that huge fire in
Del Norte. And
the community just came together. And it didn't
matter who you were, what your political things
(08:23):
were. If you needed help, people helped. Right.
And,
you know, that really touched my heart. Yes.
And it was like, wow, this is great.
Yes. And it comes through in so many
ways in our community,
and when you focus there,
you get more of it. Absolutely. And so,
we focus on the divisions, it just escalates
(08:45):
that, and that's no fun for anybody. Exactly.
But focusing on where we really touch each
other's hearts,
And to me, that's really the essence of
pride,
and
it's part of building community, and it's like
building our queer community, but it's also
(09:06):
like affecting
the bigger community.
Mhmm. Mhmm. Because it's, you know, we're like
leaders.
Yes. And we all are leaders and we
all have a part in that. It's not
up just to the director or this person
or that person. It's all of us. Oh,
yeah. And it's all of us that says
no more to hate speech, no more to
(09:26):
bullying, no more to any of that. And
we do that in our love, compassionate ways.
Right.
Totally. You get the hit the nail on
the head on that one. So, Tom, you
know, you're you're off on a roll already.
Tell us a little bit about your background
and then how you came to be in
Crescent City and how you came to be
connected to Pride. I know that's three things.
Wow.
(09:47):
Yeah. Your background? Your background?
John Paul II (09:49):
I have so many backgrounds.
Okay. John Paul II:
but I think that, you know, like focusing
on
the idea of community,
I think that
when I was living in
Berkeley,
the nineties,
I really like started doing things that were
(10:11):
about
developing community.
We used to have
potlucks and little we had this organization
called G Spring,
the Greater San Pablo Park Neighborhood
Rainbow Group.
And,
you know, like, it just kinda developed.
(10:33):
And it
I know for me, it made me feel
safer, like, knowing who who
my cool neighbors were. Mhmm. Mhmm. And,
you know, and, like, knowing that, oh, if
I walk down that street, if something happens,
I can go to that house and I
can feel safe.
And
that
made a huge difference.
(10:54):
And, you know, and then it sort of
developed into,
you know, that organization,
and then I was also involved in some,
kinda a queer business group and a queer
therapy group. And
I realized that that was becoming a central
theme in my life Okay. Community.
(11:16):
And,
you know, from from being in the Bay
Area, I moved to Chico.
Chico, I got involved in the Stonewall Alliance
Center there, which is the queer organization.
I eventually
was the
board director and then the executive director
(11:36):
and really
worked with the organization there to grow
our community and to bring the different pieces
of the community together. You know? Pieces meaning
people? Well, the the people and they were,
like, different factions. You know? Like Oh. Like,
this group was angry at this group because
they didn't do this or that or they
(11:59):
everybody wanted to, like, you know, sort of
be in charge and have it done their
way.
And I just kinda slowly
included everybody. Yes. You know? It's like,
I don't care what happened in the past.
I don't care if what you're doing is
sort of in opposition to us in some
way. I'm still gonna promote it.
(12:21):
I'm still gonna, like, support it and do
whatever I can because
if you're doing something for our community
and we're doing something for our community, then
there's two things going on for our community.
We don't have to, like,
one be better than the other or one
be in charge. We can we can all
do what works for us,
(12:42):
and then
we'll be bigger.
And if we work together, we get even
bigger.
So that was really part of my, like,
I guess, underlying philosophy
Mhmm. Was
just support everybody,
do as much as you can.
You know, if people don't wanna join you,
then they don't. But if if they kinda
(13:03):
see that things are nice that way, then
then they join,
and it helps. And we become a bigger
community.
Yes. And,
you know, there, I was involved in all
kinds of things that we had an interfaith
group that I was part of representing the
queer community to them. We had a
a police community board.
(13:24):
We had,
you know, mental health
community board, all these different aspects that
I was able to get involved in and
sort of
bring
the, I don't know, queer perspective or at
least the awareness. You know, just being in
the room
in a lot of places makes a difference
(13:45):
Yes. Because people go, oh, you know,
Tom's here. Right. And he's representing
Stonewall. He's like
that community.
I can so relate to that because, you
know, as a former nun and, of course,
writing the book None Better, I seem to
be as as I tell people, I go
(14:05):
from bars to pulpits
as I talk and share my life. And
so whether I'm I'm in a in a
bar or a park or, at the Presbyterian
Presbyterian Church at a pulpit or UCC church,
but I'm a church person, religion person, spirituality
person, as well as a queer person, And
you put all that together and it's collaboration.
(14:25):
We want to support everybody
for helping people out.
Right.
And
so at some point, I left Chico
at October
of twenty eighteen.
Chico is very hot.
Hot as in weather hot. Weather hot. And
it was getting hotter, and I decided I
(14:46):
really wanted to be by the coast where
it was gonna be cooler.
And
I started I moved up here, started working
for Open Door Community Health Center,
which is
in Crescent City and in Humboldt.
And I'm a And that's a counseling service,
isn't it? Well, and it's a whole health
clinic.
(15:07):
I I'm a licensed therapist,
and so that's what I was doing there.
And,
you know, so that sort of got me
up here,
got me into the
community, and and from there, I started, like,
finding out more about what goes on
in in this area.
Mhmm.
(15:28):
That's kind of, like, was
the avenue for getting up here.
And slowly, over these past few years, I've
been getting to know people
and trying to, like, do what I can.
I don't like being
in charge. I don't like being the leader,
but I just sorta do it.
(15:48):
And, I mean And you're good at it
because you're so organized. Well, yeah. I'm I'm
organized, but, I I mean, I also have
a philosophy
about wanting other people,
like, not wanting to be the one that's
like, oh, you do this, you do that.
This is how we're gonna do it.
I want everybody to participate.
Mhmm. I wanna find ways for everybody
(16:11):
to do what they want, what makes them
happy, and to do it in the best
way they can and to find ways to
interface that with other people.
Mhmm. You know? And sometimes that's slow going
and,
you know, we're kind of a really loosely
knit organization
in in Del Norte. We're not like a
(16:31):
you know, in Chico, I sort of jumped
into a formal organization that had been going
for many years. So there was a lot
of,
infrastructure.
Up here, we're sort of building
the infrastructure. We're building collaborations
between different groups, you know, like the you
mentioned that
the pride is taking place at the United
Methodist Church in their yard
(16:53):
and in their social room.
True North, which is a nonprofit
organization that works a lot with youth, is
part of our group. KFUG, the radio station,
and Redwood Voice, the news part of of
the radio station are very involved in
organizing and helping
(17:14):
with things.
The library.
The library is great.
Saint Paul's Episcopal.
And, yeah, I mean, and
people have really sort of jumped in, and
then it's like this nice collaboration that builds.
It's also like you get to know people
better as you work with them
(17:35):
and
and and try to, like, weave
together what different people are doing so that
they they know about each other. Right. And,
you know, there's some people that have really
been
doing that very well, and I'm
I'm trying to learn who all the people
are. Right. And that communication,
(17:56):
that honest communication back and
Yeah. Makes a difference. Mhmm.
And,
so
it's it's been an exciting
journey coming up here and and watching things
grow. And, you know, we had the whole
pandemic thing where everybody was, like, isolated, and
(18:17):
we all learned how to use Zoom better.
Now we, like, have these hybrid meetings, which
are far
better than,
you know, everybody having to, like,
be at everything in person
Right. Because it just lets people
manage and organize better. Right.
And it gives them their freedom to to
(18:39):
participate how they wanna participate, in person or
not in person. Yes. Yes. That that's beautiful.
Yeah. So what are you excited about about
this year's pride?
June 21,
give us give us the details and then
what are you excited about? Okay. Well, so
pride is June 21. We're having
(18:59):
a a festival
with vendors
and,
some live radio
that'll start at ten in the morning and
go to two.
During that time, we also,
will have the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are
gonna come up and and do a blessing
at noon.
And at 12:30, we have a sidewalk parade
(19:22):
that's gonna happen.
And then at
12:30
no. 01:30,
there's the dog show, which last year was
just
so many people
wanted to be part of the dog show
because it kinda became chaotic because
all these people started showing up with their
dogs.
So we're excited to have that again and
(19:44):
maybe have it be a little bit more
organized.
Uh-huh.
Then I
True North, which is right across the street
from from the
churchyard,
is gonna be showing a movie,
Will and Harper. Oh, great movie. Yeah. Kind
of in the afternoon and having a discussion
about it.
(20:04):
And then at 06:00,
we start the entertainment.
Six to nine is the entertainment evening
part of the show, and that's gonna have,
a live DJ dancing,
some drag performances,
some other kinds of performances,
some spoken word,
some music.
It's gonna be an exciting event, and it's
(20:26):
really like building
into something really cool. That is a full
day of joy. That is a full day
of joy. And and whether a person participates
in one part of it or all of
it, it it's all there. It's all inclusive
and all open to everybody.
Family friendly? Totally family friendly.
We have lots of vendors coming.
(20:48):
Last year, we were the, like, whole parking
lot. It was just packed with vendors. It
was great.
I think this year, we're also adding
a a d and d cut type
game that's gonna be happening inside.
I can't I shouldn't know the name of
it, but it's some, like, really cool Mhmm.
(21:10):
Game that people can participate in.
I think we're having, like, a robotics team
gonna be, like,
showing off their robotics stuff. Wow.
So a lot of really cool things
going on.
Awesome.
The best way
to find out about all of it is
to go to our website,
(21:30):
which is dnlgbtq.org.
Run that by mail again.
D n
l g b t q
dot org. So it's d n for Del
Norte,
LGBTQ
for the community,
dot org.
And
on the front page there, there's links to
(21:52):
the various things that are going on and,
the pride and all the schedules. We have
stuff about the movies. We have stuff about
the art show that just opened this past
weekend that was really great.
And that art show is up until July
5. So And and where is that located?
That's at the Crescent City Art Gallery, which
is on Second Street.
(22:14):
The entrance is real well, there's an entrance
on Second, but there's also an entrance in
the back of the parking lot.
And,
there's a lot of great art there. It
was a great opening.
So if you're in in town, you can
check it out. The gallery's open Wednesday, Thursday,
Friday, Saturday from eleven to four,
(22:34):
and there's information about that on the website
as well.
We have a couple of different Facebook
groups,
which we should probably
maybe put all that on the website too
so people know how to find those.
There's a lot happening and and a lot
more people
(22:54):
well,
new people putting a lot of energy in,
which is very cool. You bet. You bet.
And that's a celebration for all of us.
Yes. You know? And and can you talk
a little bit about that, what pride really
means to you, Tom?
You mentioned all these events, tons and tons
of people and events going on, but what
does pride mean to you?
(23:17):
I guess
it's like an opportunity to celebrate
this part of my life
and to
acknowledge that it's,
I don't know. I mean,
these are hard things to talk about. They
are hard things to talk about. But focusing
(23:39):
in,
on such detail.
Well, I think one of the most important
parts in my life, and maybe this will
help you, is when I came out,
you know, and to realize that I was
not a straight woman, that I was a
lesbian woman, and to be able to say
that to myself for number one and then
to say it to my family and say
it to my friends and start to live
(24:00):
in that world of joyously free moment. And
the pride celebration was about equality
and justice and treating everybody fairly so that
you wouldn't be fired from a job because
of your sexual identity and that you could
love whoever you wanted to love the way
you wanted to love.
And to me, that that's what pride is.
It's a celebration of that. It's also a
(24:22):
celebration of
the allies, the people that support and love
me for who I am.
Can you add to anything of that or
agree or disagree with any of that? I
mean, I think all of that's a big
part of it. I feel like,
I don't know, I've
been like doing this for so long.
(24:44):
It's not as concentrated.
But I do think it, like, represents, like,
being able to be ourselves,
to be able to be out in the
world,
to see that there's people that are supporting
us, to engage with the people that are
supporting us, to engage with each other.
I think all of that
(25:04):
is really important.
And to be able to just celebrate that
we're alive and we're here and
we're making a difference. And we've been here
for a long, long, long, long, long, long
time, and we will continue to be. I
saw the you know, how Facebook puts up
these little memories?
So
there's a photo of me from the pride
(25:25):
that I ever attended,
which was 1973
in San Francisco.
Oh, wow.
And, I mean, that was a whole different
world.
But because that was really, like, more of
a
it wasn't like a riot like Stonewall. You
know, people talk about Stonewall being, like, this
fighting back, but it was definite
(25:48):
it was definitely
a,
a moment of
bringing people together, getting you know, making a
big statement.
It was, you know, it was definitely about,
like, being out there and having people see
that we existed
and
encouraging people to join us,
(26:08):
and
that was an amazing experience. So from 1973
to 2025.
The big stretch of time. Big stretch of
time. And a lot of prides,
a lot of different prides. Some prides are
more of a big party. Some prides are
more political.
Some prides
have many, many
(26:29):
different events that are all part of pride.
So
it it
allows all these different aspects and all these
different,
like,
pieces of the community to have their space
and
to be part of that celebration.
Well said. Well said. Well, you know, you're
down to about a minute. Any final comments,
(26:50):
Tom, about pride? Well, come out and join
us.
It's gonna be a a great day
and a lot of many many many things
that'll go on. You know, I hit some
of the highlights, but just being there is
so special.
And Great. You know, I think for a
small town
to have a pride
and to have the kind of support that
(27:11):
we
have there
is just tremendous.
Fantastic.
Fantastic.
Well said. Well said. Thank you, Tom, for
being here. Thank you so much, KCIW one
hundred point seven, the entire team. Mike is
on the sound. We have,
Tom and Candice and Rose for making all
this happen. We wanna end and leave you
with some final thoughts of be the best
(27:33):
you, be the be proud of who you
are, support all the people that you love
in your life, and know that
wear bright colors and smile big. It's that
time of year. It's pride month.
Love you, everybody. Thank you.
Hi. Welcome KCIW
listeners at one hundred point seven and and
kciw.org
in Brookings, Oregon.
Welcome to the joyously free radio show, also
known as the Gaydio Show, my by my
queer family. And, yes, it's with me, none
better than Joni Lindenmeyer,
a resident of Harbor, Oregon for thirty four
years and a best selling author of, yes,
(00:32):
none better. Well, today, we always start our
morning greetings in the same way. It's a
saying that Carol and I invented in our
forty year love life. I start by saying
it's a brand new day. You, the listeners,
and my guest here will get to respond
with never been lived before.
So it's a brand new day. Never been
(00:52):
lived before. Oh my gosh. You have such
a great voice, Tom. Oh, yep. I already
gave a a clue out to all the
listeners. Yes. Tom is with me today. So,
anyways, this radio gatios show is a show
that talks about LGBTQ
stories, tips, along with religion, church, faith, and
spirituality.
Simply put, it's about joy and freedom and
courage and love, confidence and collaboration.
(01:16):
It came about because I wrote another book
called Joyously Free, and that was written and
coauthored with Elizabeth Ann Atkins of 2sisterswriting.com.
And we are proud to boast 32 contributing
writers, many from local areas here of Brookings,
Gold Beach, and Crescent City. You will get
to hear many of them. But today, we
have another special guest that is definitely one
(01:37):
that seeks understanding,
never has a box to think into, and
he is full of love and gratefulness just
like all of us are on the Southern
Oregon Coast.
Today, we're gonna start with our prayer, and
the prayer is really simple.
It's
let all the earth cry out to God
with joy. It's a responsorial
(01:57):
Psalm.
So let us close our eyes,
breathe in with hope,
and out with doubt.
Breathe in with solace.
Breathe out with any negativity.
And breathe in,
(02:20):
knowing that we are all divine
creatures.
Yes, the Psalm says, let all the earth
cry out to God with joy.
When I read that this morning in my
prayer corner,
all I could think about was a circling,
rotating
Earth.
(02:41):
All the different oceans,
rivers, lakes,
creatures,
human,
animals,
sea life,
all of them crying out to God saying
joy,
joy,
joy.
We are alive.
We are healthy. We are breathing.
We all make a difference in this world.
(03:03):
Diversity is what it's all about.
From trees to deserts,
from people of different nationalities and ethnicities,
sexual identities,
we are all
crying out to God with joy.
Those are my little thoughts for today, and
that brings us to the point of a
great person I have sitting across from me,
(03:25):
a special, special guest who brings about diversity
in so many ways.
I thank God for him. I thank God
for you, the listeners today,
that today we will get to spirit experience
spiritual divinity
as well as humanity.
Let me introduce you to
(03:45):
a friend for many years,
Tom Kellum.
He is the director of the Del Norte
and Tribal Lands Pride. That's Crescent City if
you're looking for the location.
He has a heart of gold. He has
a background of working with people,
empowering people,
and bringing the best out of people.
(04:06):
He is a a man that I just
he's my centered soul in this area.
Tom, thank you for being here.
Thank you.
That's a lot to take in. It is.
It is. But you you are Thank you.
You are such a special person and you
you influence us and and not just me,
(04:27):
but so many of us in in Del
Norte County and in Brookings.
You influence us so so very much. You
know? That's wonderful to hear. Yeah. Thank you.
You know, and one of the things you've
influenced is that Pride is coming up June
21 here in Crescent City at the United
Methodist Church, and I know you'll be able
to give us more details about what pride
is and where it is and how it
(04:47):
came about or whatever you wanna talk about.
But in relation to that, my joyously free
book will be
a talk I will be giving at the
Del Norte Public Library
on June 19 from four to six with
the topic authenticity
and resilience.
Because when you know who you are and
you are joyful and you are resilient and
(05:09):
you are courageous,
then you can share that to other people,
And that's what the book is about. So
I'm so happy to be able to be
at and mark it on your calendars, everybody.
June 19 from four to six, I will
be there, authenticity and resiliency with all my
books. But besides all my books The library.
At the library.
In in Crescent City. You got it. Right.
(05:30):
You got it. The library there is super
supportive. It's amazing.
Yes. And Phyllis, the library director, and Robin,
who works inside. And I know that the
the
the queer community uses the library oftentimes for
movies once a month and some other activities
as well. Super, super supportive. Super supportive. I
mean, and that's that's one of the things
that that has just been really,
(05:55):
I don't know, just
maybe filling me with joy. That that might
be a a good way to express it
is,
you know, coming into pride this year,
there was some hesitation, hesitation, a little bit
of fear. What's it gonna be like this
year? The climate has kinda changed.
Mhmm. And, you know,
(06:16):
and the amount of of support, which even
feels like more support than last year, which
was our year doing pride.
More people in various parts of the community
are, like, saying, hey. Yeah. We we wanna
be part of pride, and and
Pride is like this great thing. Yes. You
know, more businesses
(06:37):
are like putting up our posters, and we
have more sponsors,
and that just feels really, really good. It
it really has, like, reassured me that things
are moving in the right direction.
Yes. And that whatever's going on on the
big screen
isn't really
affecting some of the little stuff. I mean,
and I think it's the little stuff that
(06:58):
makes a difference.
And that to me, we are being on
the forefront of change
as a queer community, but also as a
strong ally supportive community like you just said.
And so we're not making the divisions.
We are making one
centered entirety
of of wholeness.
Yeah. And that's been really my message for
(07:20):
this year
is like, it's not about,
arguing
or fighting or
in any way
increasing the divides that are already existing,
but to find the common things.
And find
the way that we can all, like, touch
base with our humanity, touch base with our
(07:41):
compassion,
touch base with our
sense of peace and love.
And, you know, everybody has that.
Yeah. A lot of times, it's hidden behind
all kinds of other stuff, and and there's
a lot of surface stuff that gets in,
you know, people's way and in their lives.
But, you know, at the core, people are
(08:02):
really, really good.
And I think that
the love that they have comes through,
and you see it in emergencies.
Yes. Yes. You know? Yes. I mean, and
that really hit me a couple of years
ago when we had that huge fire in
Del Norte. And
the community just came together. And it didn't
matter who you were, what your political things
(08:23):
were. If you needed help, people helped. Right.
And,
you know, that really touched my heart. Yes.
And it was like, wow, this is great.
Yes. And it comes through in so many
ways in our community,
and when you focus there,
you get more of it. Absolutely. And so,
we focus on the divisions, it just escalates
(08:45):
that, and that's no fun for anybody. Exactly.
But focusing on where we really touch each
other's hearts,
And to me, that's really the essence of
pride,
and
it's part of building community, and it's like
building our queer community, but it's also
(09:06):
like affecting
the bigger community.
Mhmm. Mhmm. Because it's, you know, we're like
leaders.
Yes. And we all are leaders and we
all have a part in that. It's not
up just to the director or this person
or that person. It's all of us. Oh,
yeah. And it's all of us that says
no more to hate speech, no more to
(09:26):
bullying, no more to any of that. And
we do that in our love, compassionate ways.
Right.
Totally. You get the hit the nail on
the head on that one. So, Tom, you
know, you're you're off on a roll already.
Tell us a little bit about your background
and then how you came to be in
Crescent City and how you came to be
connected to Pride. I know that's three things.
Wow.
(09:47):
Yeah. Your background? Your background?
John Paul II (09:49):
I have so many backgrounds.
Okay. John Paul II:
but I think that, you know, like focusing
on
the idea of community,
I think that
when I was living in
Berkeley,
the nineties,
I really like started doing things that were
(10:11):
about
developing community.
We used to have
potlucks and little we had this organization
called G Spring,
the Greater San Pablo Park Neighborhood
Rainbow Group.
And,
you know, like, it just kinda developed.
(10:33):
And it
I know for me, it made me feel
safer, like, knowing who who
my cool neighbors were. Mhmm. Mhmm. And,
you know, and, like, knowing that, oh, if
I walk down that street, if something happens,
I can go to that house and I
can feel safe.
And
that
made a huge difference.
(10:54):
And, you know, and then it sort of
developed into,
you know, that organization,
and then I was also involved in some,
kinda a queer business group and a queer
therapy group. And
I realized that that was becoming a central
theme in my life Okay. Community.
(11:16):
And,
you know, from from being in the Bay
Area, I moved to Chico.
Chico, I got involved in the Stonewall Alliance
Center there, which is the queer organization.
I eventually
was the
board director and then the executive director
(11:36):
and really
worked with the organization there to grow
our community and to bring the different pieces
of the community together. You know? Pieces meaning
people? Well, the the people and they were,
like, different factions. You know? Like Oh. Like,
this group was angry at this group because
they didn't do this or that or they
(11:59):
everybody wanted to, like, you know, sort of
be in charge and have it done their
way.
And I just kinda slowly
included everybody. Yes. You know? It's like,
I don't care what happened in the past.
I don't care if what you're doing is
sort of in opposition to us in some
way. I'm still gonna promote it.
(12:21):
I'm still gonna, like, support it and do
whatever I can because
if you're doing something for our community
and we're doing something for our community, then
there's two things going on for our community.
We don't have to, like,
one be better than the other or one
be in charge. We can we can all
do what works for us,
(12:42):
and then
we'll be bigger.
And if we work together, we get even
bigger.
So that was really part of my, like,
I guess, underlying philosophy
Mhmm. Was
just support everybody,
do as much as you can.
You know, if people don't wanna join you,
then they don't. But if if they kinda
(13:03):
see that things are nice that way, then
then they join,
and it helps. And we become a bigger
community.
Yes. And,
you know, there, I was involved in all
kinds of things that we had an interfaith
group that I was part of representing the
queer community to them. We had a
a police community board.
(13:24):
We had,
you know, mental health
community board, all these different aspects that
I was able to get involved in and
sort of
bring
the, I don't know, queer perspective or at
least the awareness. You know, just being in
the room
in a lot of places makes a difference
(13:45):
Yes. Because people go, oh, you know,
Tom's here. Right. And he's representing
Stonewall. He's like
that community.
I can so relate to that because, you
know, as a former nun and, of course,
writing the book None Better, I seem to
be as as I tell people, I go
(14:05):
from bars to pulpits
as I talk and share my life. And
so whether I'm I'm in a in a
bar or a park or, at the Presbyterian
Presbyterian Church at a pulpit or UCC church,
but I'm a church person, religion person, spirituality
person, as well as a queer person, And
you put all that together and it's collaboration.
(14:25):
We want to support everybody
for helping people out.
Right.
And
so at some point, I left Chico
at October
of twenty eighteen.
Chico is very hot.
Hot as in weather hot. Weather hot. And
it was getting hotter, and I decided I
(14:46):
really wanted to be by the coast where
it was gonna be cooler.
And
I started I moved up here, started working
for Open Door Community Health Center,
which is
in Crescent City and in Humboldt.
And I'm a And that's a counseling service,
isn't it? Well, and it's a whole health
clinic.
(15:07):
I I'm a licensed therapist,
and so that's what I was doing there.
And,
you know, so that sort of got me
up here,
got me into the
community, and and from there, I started, like,
finding out more about what goes on
in in this area.
Mhmm.
(15:28):
That's kind of, like, was
the avenue for getting up here.
And slowly, over these past few years, I've
been getting to know people
and trying to, like, do what I can.
I don't like being
in charge. I don't like being the leader,
but I just sorta do it.
(15:48):
And, I mean And you're good at it
because you're so organized. Well, yeah. I'm I'm
organized, but, I I mean, I also have
a philosophy
about wanting other people,
like, not wanting to be the one that's
like, oh, you do this, you do that.
This is how we're gonna do it.
I want everybody to participate.
Mhmm. I wanna find ways for everybody
(16:11):
to do what they want, what makes them
happy, and to do it in the best
way they can and to find ways to
interface that with other people.
Mhmm. You know? And sometimes that's slow going
and,
you know, we're kind of a really loosely
knit organization
in in Del Norte. We're not like a
(16:31):
you know, in Chico, I sort of jumped
into a formal organization that had been going
for many years. So there was a lot
of,
infrastructure.
Up here, we're sort of building
the infrastructure. We're building collaborations
between different groups, you know, like the you
mentioned that
the pride is taking place at the United
Methodist Church in their yard
(16:53):
and in their social room.
True North, which is a nonprofit
organization that works a lot with youth, is
part of our group. KFUG, the radio station,
and Redwood Voice, the news part of of
the radio station are very involved in
organizing and helping
(17:14):
with things.
The library.
The library is great.
Saint Paul's Episcopal.
And, yeah, I mean, and
people have really sort of jumped in, and
then it's like this nice collaboration that builds.
It's also like you get to know people
better as you work with them
(17:35):
and
and and try to, like, weave
together what different people are doing so that
they they know about each other. Right. And,
you know, there's some people that have really
been
doing that very well, and I'm
I'm trying to learn who all the people
are. Right. And that communication,
(17:56):
that honest communication back and
Yeah. Makes a difference. Mhmm.
And,
so
it's it's been an exciting
journey coming up here and and watching things
grow. And, you know, we had the whole
pandemic thing where everybody was, like, isolated, and
(18:17):
we all learned how to use Zoom better.
Now we, like, have these hybrid meetings, which
are far
better than,
you know, everybody having to, like,
be at everything in person
Right. Because it just lets people
manage and organize better. Right.
And it gives them their freedom to to
(18:39):
participate how they wanna participate, in person or
not in person. Yes. Yes. That that's beautiful.
Yeah. So what are you excited about about
this year's pride?
June 21,
give us give us the details and then
what are you excited about? Okay. Well, so
pride is June 21. We're having
(18:59):
a a festival
with vendors
and,
some live radio
that'll start at ten in the morning and
go to two.
During that time, we also,
will have the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are
gonna come up and and do a blessing
at noon.
And at 12:30, we have a sidewalk parade
(19:22):
that's gonna happen.
And then at
12:30
no. 01:30,
there's the dog show, which last year was
just
so many people
wanted to be part of the dog show
because it kinda became chaotic because
all these people started showing up with their
dogs.
So we're excited to have that again and
(19:44):
maybe have it be a little bit more
organized.
Uh-huh.
Then I
True North, which is right across the street
from from the
churchyard,
is gonna be showing a movie,
Will and Harper. Oh, great movie. Yeah. Kind
of in the afternoon and having a discussion
about it.
(20:04):
And then at 06:00,
we start the entertainment.
Six to nine is the entertainment evening
part of the show, and that's gonna have,
a live DJ dancing,
some drag performances,
some other kinds of performances,
some spoken word,
some music.
It's gonna be an exciting event, and it's
(20:26):
really like building
into something really cool. That is a full
day of joy. That is a full day
of joy. And and whether a person participates
in one part of it or all of
it, it it's all there. It's all inclusive
and all open to everybody.
Family friendly? Totally family friendly.
We have lots of vendors coming.
(20:48):
Last year, we were the, like, whole parking
lot. It was just packed with vendors. It
was great.
I think this year, we're also adding
a a d and d cut type
game that's gonna be happening inside.
I can't I shouldn't know the name of
it, but it's some, like, really cool Mhmm.
(21:10):
Game that people can participate in.
I think we're having, like, a robotics team
gonna be, like,
showing off their robotics stuff. Wow.
So a lot of really cool things
going on.
Awesome.
The best way
to find out about all of it is
to go to our website,
(21:30):
which is dnlgbtq.org.
Run that by mail again.
D n
l g b t q
dot org. So it's d n for Del
Norte,
LGBTQ
for the community,
dot org.
And
on the front page there, there's links to
(21:52):
the various things that are going on and,
the pride and all the schedules. We have
stuff about the movies. We have stuff about
the art show that just opened this past
weekend that was really great.
And that art show is up until July
5. So And and where is that located?
That's at the Crescent City Art Gallery, which
is on Second Street.
(22:14):
The entrance is real well, there's an entrance
on Second, but there's also an entrance in
the back of the parking lot.
And,
there's a lot of great art there. It
was a great opening.
So if you're in in town, you can
check it out. The gallery's open Wednesday, Thursday,
Friday, Saturday from eleven to four,
(22:34):
and there's information about that on the website
as well.
We have a couple of different Facebook
groups,
which we should probably
maybe put all that on the website too
so people know how to find those.
There's a lot happening and and a lot
more people
(22:54):
well,
new people putting a lot of energy in,
which is very cool. You bet. You bet.
And that's a celebration for all of us.
Yes. You know? And and can you talk
a little bit about that, what pride really
means to you, Tom?
You mentioned all these events, tons and tons
of people and events going on, but what
does pride mean to you?
(23:17):
I guess
it's like an opportunity to celebrate
this part of my life
and to
acknowledge that it's,
I don't know. I mean,
these are hard things to talk about. They
are hard things to talk about. But focusing
(23:39):
in,
on such detail.
Well, I think one of the most important
parts in my life, and maybe this will
help you, is when I came out,
you know, and to realize that I was
not a straight woman, that I was a
lesbian woman, and to be able to say
that to myself for number one and then
to say it to my family and say
it to my friends and start to live
(24:00):
in that world of joyously free moment. And
the pride celebration was about equality
and justice and treating everybody fairly so that
you wouldn't be fired from a job because
of your sexual identity and that you could
love whoever you wanted to love the way
you wanted to love.
And to me, that that's what pride is.
It's a celebration of that. It's also a
(24:22):
celebration of
the allies, the people that support and love
me for who I am.
Can you add to anything of that or
agree or disagree with any of that? I
mean, I think all of that's a big
part of it. I feel like,
I don't know, I've
been like doing this for so long.
(24:44):
It's not as concentrated.
But I do think it, like, represents, like,
being able to be ourselves,
to be able to be out in the
world,
to see that there's people that are supporting
us, to engage with the people that are
supporting us, to engage with each other.
I think all of that
(25:04):
is really important.
And to be able to just celebrate that
we're alive and we're here and
we're making a difference. And we've been here
for a long, long, long, long, long, long
time, and we will continue to be. I
saw the you know, how Facebook puts up
these little memories?
So
there's a photo of me from the pride
(25:25):
that I ever attended,
which was 1973
in San Francisco.
Oh, wow.
And, I mean, that was a whole different
world.
But because that was really, like, more of
a
it wasn't like a riot like Stonewall. You
know, people talk about Stonewall being, like, this
fighting back, but it was definite
(25:48):
it was definitely
a,
a moment of
bringing people together, getting you know, making a
big statement.
It was, you know, it was definitely about,
like, being out there and having people see
that we existed
and
encouraging people to join us,
(26:08):
and
that was an amazing experience. So from 1973
to 2025.
The big stretch of time. Big stretch of
time. And a lot of prides,
a lot of different prides. Some prides are
more of a big party. Some prides are
more political.
Some prides
have many, many
(26:29):
different events that are all part of pride.
So
it it
allows all these different aspects and all these
different,
like,
pieces of the community to have their space
and
to be part of that celebration.
Well said. Well said. Well, you know, you're
down to about a minute. Any final comments,
(26:50):
Tom, about pride? Well, come out and join
us.
It's gonna be a a great day
and a lot of many many many things
that'll go on. You know, I hit some
of the highlights, but just being there is
so special.
And Great. You know, I think for a
small town
to have a pride
and to have the kind of support that
(27:11):
we
have there
is just tremendous.
Fantastic.
Fantastic.
Well said. Well said. Thank you, Tom, for
being here. Thank you so much, KCIW one
hundred point seven, the entire team. Mike is
on the sound. We have,
Tom and Candice and Rose for making all
this happen. We wanna end and leave you
with some final thoughts of be the best
(27:33):
you, be the be proud of who you
are, support all the people that you love
in your life, and know that
wear bright colors and smile big. It's that
time of year. It's pride month.
Love you, everybody. Thank you.
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