Thorns Show Their Pride in a Civic Celebration of LGBTQ+ Lives

A fundraiser by the Rose City Riveters supporters group sent thousands of dollars to New Avenues for Youth.

Thorns Pride Night (Blake Benard)
By Blake Benard and Aaron Mesh

Newcomers to Portland, including gender refugees, are often surprised by the civic fervor for the Thorns. “In my 40 years of life, I had never seen both men and women root for a women’s sports team,” said Tiffany Rodriguez, who fled Fort Worth, Texas for Sellwood. In this week’s Dive podcast, she added: “I don’t know if people realize, it’s not like this in other parts of the country.”

Last week, the soccer club returned the love. The Pride Night celebration on Saturday, July 1, saw fans arrive at Providence Park sporting Pride scarves. A fundraiser by the Rose City Riveters supporters’ group sent thousands of dollars to New Avenues for Youth, which supports homeless teenagers, many of whom are LGBTQ+.

The Thorns lost to the Kansas City Current, 1-0, in their first home loss this season. Yet the stadium was filled with winners.

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