Pride Picnic was chilly, but fun for all, and the bigots from Kansas were a no-show…

Amen, sister...

The second annual Pride Picnic sponsored by BECU and produced by Seattle Out and Proud was a smashing success on Sunday at Volunteer Park with a cross section of the community present to enjoy the $1 plates of food, bounce houses, clowns, and entertainment from hostess Gaysha Starr and a line-up of speakers and performers including the three finalists for Pride Idol.

But, the primary focus of the day, or at least at the beginning of the event, was at the 15th Avenue entrance to the park and whether or not hate mongering protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church from Topeka, Kansas would fulfill their promise to picket at the event. Activist Ben Crowther arranged a counter protest and the large crowd that gathered to support the LGBTQ community apparently had an impact. The WBC reportedly sent a scout who reported back that a large counter protest group had gathered, and as a result the bigots were a no-show at their own protest. (Though they did show up at the Slut Walk later that day.)

We stopped by the Protest/Picnic and our Kathy Bugajsky got some nice shots of both the counter protesters and some of the performers at the Picnic. Check it out.

Three corners of the intersection were filled with counter protesters.

Activist Ben Crowther organized the very successful counter protest.

Ms Starr looks far different than she did on Saturday for "Bat n' Rouge"...from jock to Queen of the Desert.

Ms Starr realizes that children are our future...and prone to upstaging performers.

Indigo did not work Blue for this family event...

We hope this wasn't the same Bounce House used at Bouncy Ball the night before...nasty.