The Jewish Federation of Greater Portland is marching in Portland’s Pride Parade this year – this time, there’s a pre-party!

Federation, along with A Wider Bridge, is sponsoring the pre-parade gathering Sunday, July 20 from 9:30-11:30 am.

“We’re excited for our LGBTQ+ community to gather together for a pre-celebration in partnership with A Wider Bridge,” Federation Director of Educational Initiatives and Associate Director of Community Relations Rachel Nelson explained “A Wider Bridge is a wonderful LGBTQ+ organization with a focus on strong, positive relationships with Israel.

Founded in 2010 by Arthur Slepian to support LGBTQ communities in Israel following the Bar Noar Youth Center shooting the year before, the organization has expanded its work to combat both homophobia and antisemitism in Israel and the United States while connecting the two countries queer communities together.

The pre-parade event offers paradegoers a chance to connect with fellow marchers while loading up on coffee and bagels for the parade, which winds its way through Northwest Portland before arriving at the Pride Festival’s main site at Tom McCall Waterfront Park.

JFGP will be marching alongside the Mittleman Jewish Community Center, Cedar Sinai Park and Congregations Beth Israel, Kol Ami and Neveh Shalom in this year’s parade.

“Any community member that would like to march with us is welcome to join us. They can reach out to me for more details,” Nelson said; she can be reached at [email protected].

Nelson has also worked closely with Secure Communities Network and their Regional Security Director Jessica Anderson to ensure the safety of all involved – a concern that has become more prevalent in recent years.

“We’re always keeping an eye when we have large events, we’re looking at social media and we’re staying in touch with law enforcement. We are not seeing anything related to Pride events for the Jewish community,” Anderson said. “Any community event like this warrants additional situational awareness and paying attention, but we’re going to be out there supporting our friends and colleagues and family members.”

“Last year, we felt safe and very lucky that it was a very positive experience and we look forward to it being a similar experience.” Nelson said. “We don’t have any known threats, anything like that.”

Though Portland’s Pride Parade is not during the traditional Pride Month of June, it’s still an important moment for the Jewish community to step up for inclusivity and acceptance.

“We have a plurality of identities within our community, just like the general community. We learned from our Community Study that about 10 percent of [Portland-area Jews identifies as part of the LGBTQ+ Community, so we want honor all our community members with multiple identities.” Nelson said. “Our Jewish values are deeply rooted in tikkun olam (repairing the world), social action and being part of causes that lift up all voices.”

Preregistration is required for A Wider Bridge’s pre-parade celebration – location will be provided after registration – and is available online at awiderbridge.org/event/portland.