Meet our Mid-Valley: Zachery Cardoso building a community with Salem Capital Pride

Salem Capital Pride organized its largest Pride in the Park celebration last year with eight hours of live performances and 170 booths in Riverfront Park. At the helm of the growing celebration is Zachery Cardoso, who has served as president of the local nonprofit for the last four years.

Cardoso, who uses the pronouns he and they, doesn’t expect to remain president of the organization forever but is committed to making sure Capital Pride continues to expand.

“It’s all about community building,” Cardoso said.

"I'm not special," Cardoso added. "I'm just here. And anyone in our community can make change and can do good things."

Cardoso's journey to joining Salem Capital Pride

Cardoso, originally from California, moved to Salem in 2009 when they were 18 years old to attend Willamette University. Cardoso said they fell in love with Oregon and the opportunity Salem offered compared to the community of 10,000 people they grew up in.

“It’s the best mixture of everything,” Cardoso said.

Now a city of Salem employee, Cardoso’s journey to leading Salem Capital Pride began in March 2019 when the small group of people who had been putting on Pride for years posted a call to action on social media. Cardoso estimates the same five people had been organizing the annual event for at least seven years.

“They’d been worked to the bone and they were like, ‘We’re done. We really need help or we’re gonna have to cancel,'” Cardoso remembered.

Worried the board would follow through on having to cancel the annual pride event, Cardoso and 20 others showed up to the next meeting. By the end of 2019, the small group who had led the organization stepped down and a new board was elected. Cardoso was elected as president and has led the board ever since.

The organization has been around “for a very long time,” dating back to the '70s when it was part of another organization: Capitol Forum.

Cardoso said he and the board are always doing the best they can.

"So many times, I have had people come and tell me how much it's made a personal difference in their life, to have these programs and just to have this in Salem," they said.

No one way to celebrate pride

Taking charge has translated to new events for the LGBTQ community. Last year the organization hosted its first-ever “Queer Prom.” The group also commemorated the 45th anniversary of the first-ever Pride March in Salem with nearly 500 people recreating the march.

On Saturday, the organization hosted a Pride Parade and block party on State Street.

And every month the group hosts events. There’s a queer climb night every second Monday of the month where members can learn bouldering or meet other queer rock climbers. Every second Saturday there’s “Rainbow Yoga.” And for gamers, there are board game nights every second and fourth Sunday and video game nights every first and third Sunday. At Bush's Pasture Park, members play sports every Sunday during the summer.

Nearly every event is free, and those that are not are discounted. Free opportunities is one of the organization’s main tenets, Cardoso said.

“It’s really important for us, especially me, to present free opportunities for people because the expectation to go out and spend is really limiting, especially to marginalized communities,” Cardoso said.

The variety of events also was important to grow.

“There’s not going to be one way to celebrate pride and identity for anyone,” he said. “We want to offer lots of ways for people to find community and make meaningful connections that really matter and impact them individually, as well as fostering this community that makes a difference throughout our area.”

Cardoso dreams of the organization eventually having a physical space that would serve as a queer community center in Salem that could offer space for the other queer organizations in Salem that are "even tinier" than Capital Pride and offer some services.

Short-term goals include growing membership and volunteers.

Five people sit on the executive team, and Cardoso estimates about 20 to 30 people attend meetings. Another 100 are on their mailing list as volunteers for some of the larger events.

He said they recognized some people might not want to get involved because they're unsure, or maybe scared, of jumping into the board or organization, but he encouraged people to join.

"I'm here to help people create the community that they want to see," said Cardoso. "I really encourage people to get involved. Whether that's with us or another organization or on their own."

They estimate they dedicate 20 hours a week to Capital Pride.

"That extra time spent is a lot and it can be wearing but it's worth it," said Cardoso, who also helps friends fix up their houses, and is into "all kinds of crafts" and has lately been working on a new bobbin lace project.

Dianne Lugo covers the Oregon Legislature and equity issues. Reach her at [email protected] or on X @DianneLugo

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Salem Capital Pride leader Zachery Cardoso builds community