Episode 221 Kanan Durham
Kanan Durham
Executive Director, Pride at the Pier
“the price for authenticity and equal rights is never to high””
Kanan Durham and Jeanne Pepper at the PeppTalks Studios
Episode 221 features a compelling and candid conversation with Kanan Durham, the Executive Director of Pride at the Pier. Kanan brings a passionate, lived experience to his leadership role, discussing how his personal journey as a trans-man has profoundly shaped his approach to activism, community building, and leadership within the LGBTQ+ non-profit space.
In this special interview, Kanan opens up about the crucial challenges and ultimate rewards of navigating his identity. He discusses the powerful transformation that occurs when one chooses to live with authenticity, detailing how this personal commitment fundamentally changed the trajectory of his life. This part of the conversation offers deeply relatable insight for anyone—regardless of identity—who is facing a personal "reveal" or striving to align their public and private selves. Kanan connects his journey of self-discovery directly to his work in the community. He explains how his increased visibility and activism were fueled by finding his true self, leading him to a pivotal role at Pride at the Pier. He shares how the annual event is not just a celebration, but a vital cornerstone for creating safe spaces, fostering LGBTQ+ acceptance, and providing essential resources for the local community.
Listen as Kanan shares what it takes to lead a major community event and how he uses his platform to champion inclusivity and visibility for the transgender community. His story is an inspiring testament to how embracing one's own truth can become a powerful, life-changing force for collective good.
Our Interview of Kanan was totally fun and greatly educational on the issues related to homophobia and the political action in Orange County taken by concerned citizens, allies and local LGBTQAI+ to fight the pride flag ban in Huntington Beach, California in 2023. Huntington Beach is not the first city to try this; the city of Irvine was successful under the leadership of Mayor Christina Shea in 2019, but in 2020 Shea was the only dissenting vote when the council voted to fly the rainbow flag. LA TIMES: Irvine approves flying the pride flag, Mayor Christina Shea only dissenting vote. Pride at the Pier got its start over the course of multiple meetings in February and March of 2023, when the Huntington Beach City enacted a ban on Pride Flags being displayed by the city government in any capacity. In response, a small group of people, including Kanan, worked together to organize a reactionary Pride event in HB on May 21st, 2023, the city’s first. They raised funds to create the largest homemade Progress Pride flag in California (33' x 24'!) and marched to the end of the pier to display it there for over an hour.Kanan diplomatically explains what being a “trans-man” means and how he lives his best life now since his transition. He is the executive director of Pride at the Pier.
Since then, Pride at the Pier expanded from a reactionary event to become something greater and more collective. The founders realized on that day that the need for collective action and connection in the queer community was greater than was being met. Their non-partisan mission at Pride at the Pier is to educate, connect, and empower the LGBTQ community to get involved involved in local politics and civic systems. There’s close to 4 million people living and working in Orange County, and according to the last U.S. Census, over 385,000 of are LGBTQ - and yet it doesn’t feel that way. Pride at the Pier is working to build a future where LGBTQ folks aren’t political prey, but a voting block.
Thank you Kanan for your activism and joining us at Pepptalks for a great interview!
Pride at the Pier QR Code.
Episode 221
Hosted by: Jeanne Pepper
Guests: Kanan Durham, Executive Director Pride at the Pier
Producer: Eli Moskowitz
Executive Producer: Jeanne Pepper
Original Theme: Jay Bernstein
Special Thank You to our volunteers
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