In a year where some communities are scaling back or canceling their Pride celebrations because ofa wave of anti-LGBTQ legislation,one Northern California Pride is returning for the first time since 2019.

Russian River Pride is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 15, in Guerneville, organized by a volunteer committee under the fiscal sponsorship of the nonprofit Russian River Alliance. The celebration will include a parade through the town and a dance party on Johnson’s Beach hosted by San Francisco drag motherJuanita More.

The celebration is timed to National Coming Out Day on Wednesday, Oct. 11, with several events planned for the days ahead of the weekend parade and dance party.

A Pride flag-themed exhibitiontitled “Flag in the Map,” sponsored by Oli Gallery and the Gilbert Baker Foundation, will be on view throughout the week at Equality Vines, and on Friday, Oct. 13, theMonte Rio Theaterplans to host a screening of the Harvey Milk biopic, “Milk”,由肖恩·潘主演旧金山董事会of Supervisors member who was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California.

Events on Saturday, Oct. 14, include a health fair with a display of panels from the AIDS Memorial Quilt at the Russian River Health and Wellness Center, an Honoring Our Elders Brunch, a Women’s Weekend Pop-up Pool Party, a Clean and Sober Lounge outside of the OutLaw Barber & Beauty hair salon, and a screening ofBarry Jenkins’ film “Moonlight” at the Monte Rio.

Activist and authorCleve Jones,他现在基本上生活在盖尔纳losing his rented apartmentin San Francisco last year, is one of the primary organizers of Russian River Pride and said that these legislative challenges to LGBTQ rights — particularly bills targeting transgender people and drag performers — were part of the reason it felt urgent to bring the event back to Guerneville.

“What really prompted people was reading about how some pride celebrations in Florida were being canceled because of the new anti-LGBTQ laws in that state,” said Jones, author of “When We Rise” and co-founder of the Names Project, the organization behind theAIDS Memorial Quilt. “Just holding a Pride right now is a political statement. We’re saying we are not going to back down.”

Juanita More, whose party during San Francisco Pride and People’s March ahead of the San Francisco parade have become local traditions, was eager to support Jones’ vision.

“I’m bringing along my little trusty troupe of queens who always do big numbers,” she said.

That includes Bay Area drag favoritesMr. David Glamamore, Miss Rahni NothingMore, Dulce De Leche, Nicki Jizz and Vera. Other performers slated for the dance party include DJLadyRyan.

Russian River Pride will also raise funds for five organizations: Russian River Alliance Workforce Fund; Russian River Youth Center; Watch Duty, a real-time fire alerts and information service; Food for Thought food bank; and the Guerneville Library.

The latter, Jones explained, is a beneficiary of the event “because it’s not just LGBTQ rights that are under attack right now. Books are under attack.”

Guerneville last hosted Sonoma County Pride in 2017 before the event was moved to Santa Rosa. In the years since, the unincorporated township has seen its share of difficulties. In addition to concerns over wildfires and smoke in the late summer and fall, the Russian River has also flooded during heavy rains in 2021, and West Sonoma County dealt with power outages this year due to wind storms in January.

The coronavirus pandemic shutdowns in 2020 also still reverberate in the area’s tourism industry, with local small business owners especially in need of a boost as tourism falls off each October, said Lynda Hopkins, Sonoma County’s District 5 supervisor.

“The LGBTQ community is critical to the economic success of the lower Russian River,” said Hopkins, pointing to LGBTQ events like Lazy Bear Week and Some Are Camp that “make it or break it for the entire year.”

Guerneville’s identity as an LGBTQ-inclusive community began in the 1970s. But Jones and Hopkins are quick to point out that the perception that the area is as economically prosperous as other queer vacation destinations, like Provincetown on the Cape of Massachusetts or Fire Island in New York, is inaccurate.

“The lower river is technically qualified as a disadvantaged community in terms of an income survey that was conducted,” said Hopkins. “There’s a mix of people: You have multimillion-dollar riverfront homes and you have a lot of folks who are living paycheck to paycheck.”

Even with Guernville’s longtime reputation as an accepting riverfront community, Hopkins noted that the lower river area has seen an uptick in hate crimes targeting LGBTQ symbols like Pride flags in the area, with one reported incident of physical assault. She believes that Pride celebrations are an important part of affirming the queer community’s right to exist, and to set an example of acceptance for younger generations.

“I’m looking forward to bringing my son to Pride,” said Hopkins. “The other day he told me that he wanted to be a girl because boys can’t wear dresses. He’s 4 years old, and I said, ‘That’s great!’ But I explained to him that boys absolutely can wear dresses. I told him, ‘I’m going to take you to Pride, and you’re going to meet boys wearing dresses and know that they can be just as beautiful as girls wearing dresses.’ ”

Reach Tony Bravo: tbravo@sfchronicle.com