Party On

For years, Andy Hansen has wanted Waverly, Iowa, to have its own Pride celebration. The queer and trans people living among the town’s 11,000 residents can feel isolated from one another, and Hansen thought a Pride event would give them a chance to gel as a community.

As chair of Waverly’s Human Equity and Diversity Commission, Hansen wanted to help organize something that would suit the homespun, outdoorsy character of the municipality. “We struggled with, if we are going to do something, how are we going to do it in small-town style that’s uniquely Waverly?” they said. Nothing quite clicked, so the notion sat on the back burner.

Then, last fall, a Waverly resident came to the commission with a proposal. What if, instead of a parade, they hosted a boat float during Pride month, with participants paddling in kayaks and canoes down the Cedar River that runs through town?