LGBTQ community celebrates as Pride flag flies

“Heartbreaking and hopeful, it’s both,” Rodenbush said. “It’s very moving.”

Rodenbush recalled a lifetime of living as a lesbian, saying she marched in one of the first ever PRIDE parades in 1970 in Provincetown, Mass. Now 72, she said growing up different than most of her peers presented unique challenges.

“I think one of the biggest challenges early on was just not knowing what I was,” she said.

She recalled talking to her parents as a young woman, and while they tried to be understanding, they knew no one who was gay, so they pushed her to find a man to love. And she did … sort of.

“I met, fell in love with and married a gay man who was very open about it,” she said. “We both married to get our parents to leave us alone.”

That marriage lasted four years before the reality of who they were become more than they could hide. Still friendly to this day, they have lived true to themselves since. Part of that for Rodenbush has included fighting for gay rights.

That’s what landed her in a march in 1970, only one year after the Stonewall Riots in New York.

“What I remember is the variety of people marching and the tears of hope and commemorating why have to do this,” she said. “This isn’t just a party day. It’s a day with history.”

That history has included love, it has included pain and Wednesday, it included a celebration.

“Everything I’ve done, even the painful things, are imminently worth it,” Rodenbush said. “I regret almost nothing.”

Laura Erceg can echo those sentiments, although her quest has been much shorter. As the Pride flag was being lifted into place, Erceg addressed a couple dozen people celebrating the moment.

“Seven years ago, I would have never thought I’d be here,” Erceg said. “Today, it’s awesome to be standing here with you all after a Pride proclamation has been signed by our city council, and we’re raising a Pride flag as we speak.”

While Erceg said seeing the flag fly over the Coos Bay Boardwalk was a time to celebrate, she said the work was not yet finished.

“Our work is not done,” she said. “Our community still has a lot of work to do to ensure our community has safe spaces for everyone.”

For Jamar Ruff seeing the flag over the boardwalk was also a sign of progress.

“It means representation,” Ruff said. “It’s so important for us to have visibility in a rural community. This is a huge step in the right direction. There’s more work to be done, but this means everything.”

Ruff has become an icon in Coos Bay through his role as outreach and marketing manager at Coos Head Food Co-op. He was recently named citizen of the year by the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce for his work during the COVID pandemic. He said balancing being a gay man and a community leader is not that hard.

“For me, that’s only one aspect of who I am,” Ruff said. “I can be who I am and that gives hope to others in our community. Anyone that’s living out loud allows there to be hope for everyone.”

Kamryn Stringfield also reveled in the moment Wednesday, a moment she is largely responsible for. In 2021, Stringfield went to the Coos Bay City Council and asked for a Pride flag to be hoisted during Pride month. At the time, the city turned down the request because it had no policy regarding what flags can be put on city flagpoles.

Ove the last year, the city council discussed the flag issue several times before creating a policy. Then last month, the council unanimously voted to have the Pride flag fly throughout the month of the June.

“It’s really important to me because this is the first time in history a government in Coos Couty has flown a Pride flag,” Stringfield said. “It’s important, but it’s just a first step.”

Stringfield has already asked North Bend to create a flag policy to allow the Pride flag to be flown, but she is not stopping there.

“Next year, my goal is to have multiple cities in Coos County fly them,” she said.

While Wednesday was a time to celebrate for the LGBTQ population, many agreed it was not the end of a quest, just a step forward.

“We’re going to really push for the progress we need,” Stringfield said. “We’re going for LGBTQ liberation. It starts with first steps like this.”