What to know about Eugene Pride, from the unaffiliated replacement march to police response

Last Sunday, Eugene Pride said it had decided to cancel its rally and march from Kesey Square to the Lane Events Center, where the 12-hour Pride festival would continue as planned.

Explaining their reasons, organizers cited the relationship between law enforcement and queer protesters, many of whom are involved in the committee running the rally and march.

Since then, a couple things happened: Eugene police Chief Chris Skinner responded at a press conference. And details of an unofficial replacement rally and march have popped up online.

Here’s what to know: 

• What was canceled?
• What’s going to happen Saturday?
• What did the police say at first in response to the cancellation?
• What did the police say in their press conference?

What was canceled?

The kickoff rally at Kesey Square and subsequent march to the events center.

The rally and march team was “emphatic” that they would not proceed with the kickoff event if Eugene Pride applied for an event permit with the Eugene Police, said Brooks McLain, marketing coordinator for Pride.

Without the permit, which is a standard part of getting insurance for a large-scale event, Eugene Pride opted to cancel the rally and march, to not put the larger Pride event at risk of any potential liability, McLain said.

On a walkthrough of the Lane Events Center in mid-June, EPD told Eugene Pride organizers that any unpermitted march would be engaging in disorderly conduct. 

Anna Lardner, a member of the rally and march committee and one of two plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit that blocked enforcement of “loud and unusual noise” rules on sidewalks around the Eugene Federal Building, said she started raising the point in January that Eugene Pride shouldn’t work with EPD. 

While the “loud and unusual noise” rules are federal guidelines, protesters have alleged in court that EPD officers have confronted Lardner in response to noise on the sidewalk. (Court documents state that when an attorney asked an EPD officer if he was threatening Lardner with arrest, the officer said no, that “he just wanted people to be ‘aware’ that there were other people trying to use the building.”)

Lardner pointed to what she and other organizers saw as a double standard in enforcement between how those rules were enforced, and how EPD has had a generally hands-off approach in regards to evangelical protesters using megaphones at last year’s rally and march and frequently at the Eugene Saturday Market.

The statement from Eugene Pride pointed to that dynamic, as well as a general air of distrust between the queer community and the Eugene Police Department after the release of body-camera footage showing a now-former officer using racist and misogynistic language in May by the local documentarian Tim Lewis. 

What’s going to happen Saturday?

Eugene Pride has not been canceled. 

The full day of activities at Lane Events Center will continue as planned, with live entertainment, food and drinks, vendors, family activities and more. The official Eugene Pride festivities are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, June 27, followed by a CHUB x PRIDE afterparty with DJ Enriquedammit from 6 to 11 p.m.

Before the actual Eugene Pride festivities, an unaffiliated replacement rally and march will take place at Kesey Square starting at 9 a.m., with the rally scheduled to go from 9:30 to 10 a.m. and the march scheduled for 10:15 a.m. to 11 a.m. 

What did the police say at first in response to the cancellation?

In response to news of the cancellation, EPD spokesperson Melinda McLaughlin shared the following statement: 

“Eugene Police and other City departments have been in conversations with the group throughout the year and remain committed to ongoing dialog and collaboration. Building on the success of last year’s events, we believed we could again work together to support a successful and safe gathering. We care deeply about the safety of everyone involved and the broader community, and we’re sorry to hear they feel they need to cancel their event.

“Certain permits are required so the City can put appropriate safety measures in place and reduce risks for participants and the public. When events move forward without permits, it limits our ability to provide the planning, staffing, and protections that help keep people safe. EPD discussed these concerns with organizers, including applicable laws designed to ensure safety for both the group and the community.

“Our goal is always the safest possible outcome. When a large, unpermitted march occurs, essential safety protocols and planning cannot be fully implemented, creating gaps that put participants and the community at risk.”

What did police say in the follow-up press conference?

Eugene police Chief Chris Skinner held a 17-minute press conference Tuesday, June 23, to expand on those comments. 

He started by saying he at first expected this year’s Eugene Pride to be a “rinse and repeat” of 2025, and shared feedback from organizers commending police for last year’s event. 

“It’s really unfortunate at this point we’re at a place where part of that has been canceled, that is not of our choosing,” he said. “They are free, much like many people are free, to do whatever they want.”

Skinner emphasized that the police requested that Eugene Pride apply for permits for the rally and march, to inform people which roadways could be affected or blocked off by the march. 

Skinner also pointed to how many events are happening this weekend — Eugene Pride, Savannah Bananas baseball, a BMX race and the opening events of the Oregon Bach Festival at the Hult Center — as underscoring the need for organized roadways, in addition to what he called an “all-time low” of 66 patrol officers.

Skinner said that for the unpermitted pop-up march, the police will make assumptions on route, numbers and timing, as well as officers available in the event of conflict between marchers celebrating Pride and counterprotesters. 

He clarified the police department’s stance on disorderly conduct during large scale unpermitted events, ahead of the newly scheduled rally and march.

The Eugene Pride statement included in bold that organizers were told “any of our volunteers that were in the street could be viewed by EPD as engaging in disorderly conduct.”

But Skinner said the suggestion that EPD was “heavy-handed” in enforcing rules against disorderly conduct was “just not fair, quite frankly.”

“We’re not there to arrest people, that’s not our job,” he said. “I don’t remember the last time in the eight years I’ve been chief here that we went out and mass-arrested people for gathering in the street.”

Jaime Adame contributed reporting to this piece.