Eugene residents rally for Pride after official march is canceled

Residents still marched from Kesey Square to Lane Events Center on June 27, even after Eugene Pride canceled its official rally and march. The gathering turned a canceled procession into a live show of support, with people carrying Pride flags and joining a replacement “Rad Pride” march through downtown Eugene.

Eugene Pride had announced on June 21 that it was pulling the official rally and march, while keeping the Pride Festival at Lane Events Center on the schedule. The march had been planned for Saturday, June 27, from Kesey Square to the event site on the west side of Eugene. Organizers said they made the call because of safety concerns, distrust of the Eugene Police Department, and tensions that had carried over from the 2025 event.

Brooks McLain said the organization pulled back permits that were tied to insurance and funding. The City of Eugene had provided $4,500 for fencing and safety measures, and that money was returned after the official march was canceled. Eugene Pride also pointed to police interactions during anti-ICE protests near the Eugene Federal Building as part of the distrust that shaped the decision. Eugene Pride has hosted the Pride Festival since 1993, giving the weekend a long local history even as the form of the event changed this year.

Police planning became part of the uncertainty on the ground. Eugene Police Chief Chris Skinner said officers were not the ones who canceled the march, and he said the department would monitor any unpermitted march from a distance rather than provide full traffic control. Skinner also said police did not threaten arrests for disorderly conduct simply because a march lacked a permit. His comments underscored the divide between an organized, permitted event and a public gathering that went ahead without that structure.

The replacement march proceeded anyway, and it became more openly political than the original plan. Participants moved from Kesey Square to Lane Events Center with Pride flags, protest signs, singing, drumming and speeches, and the crowd called for Skinner’s resignation. For Eugene residents who showed up, the day was less about the paperwork that fell apart than about keeping a public Pride presence alive in a city where the annual celebration has been part of local life since the 1990s.