Amid National Focus on Tennessee, Gay Pride Festival Causes Tension in Local Town

Mayor Ken Moore cast a tie-breaking vote after hours of public comment

A little boy reaches for candy from the Chattanooga Pride parade in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Oct. 2, 2022. Jackson Elliott/The Epoch Times

A gay pride festival in Franklin, Tennessee, dominated hours of conversation at a Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting this week, with the city’s mayor casting a tie-breaking vote to allow the festival to be held at a public park for its third year.

The meeting on April 11 had over 100 members of the community present to speak, mostly against the approval of the permit for this year’s event.

Franklin is the county seat of Williamson County, the wealthiest county in Tennessee, according to census data. Franklin is a Republican stronghold in Tennessee, being the hometown of Gov. Bill Lee and current residence of Sen. Marsha Blackburn.

The county shares a border with the city of Nashville and has been home to several celebrities, including country singers Chris Stapleton, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, and Keith Urban, and actress Nicole Kidman.

Victoria Jackson, an actress and former Saturday Night Live cast member from 1986–1992, also lives there and spoke at the meeting in strong opposition to the festival.

“God hates sodomy,” she started. “He hates homosexuality, he said it’s an abomination. And God hates sexual immorality, all kinds—fornication, adultery, etc. And God hates pride–like, one of the most things he hates is pride.”

She also briefly mentioned children before she was cut off for going over her time, encouraging “this generation not to be brainwashed.”

Members of the board for Franklin Pride also spoke, mentioning that the drag shows that were controversial at last year’s festival had been removed and they had worked to make the event “family friendly,” although not all were convinced.

The Issue

Last year’s Franklin Pride festival created backlash after drag queens with names such as “The Blair B***h” performed what some observers described as explicit and obscene material in front of children. One alderwoman even described a drag queen “gyrating” in front of children.

In comments at a city board meeting in June 2022 following the pride festival, Franklin resident JoEllen Thatcher shared her concerns about future events in the city.

“Allowing pride events in our city, like the one on June 4th, seems counterproductive to the stated desire of the LGBTQ community to be seen in a positive light,” Thatcher said. “Instead, events like these are a smokescreen for indecency that we would not tolerate in other situations, exposing our children to potential grooming, not addressing the likelihood of abuse leading to suicide, and opening the door to expanding such abuse.”

In the months following that event, criticism continued to mount, including a petition that garnered over 2,000 signatures to deny the event permit this year.

During debate among board members before the April 11 vote, several members appeared to be against the event and others appeared to show hesitation.

Gabrielle Hanson, an alderwoman who voted against the permit renewal, said she had been threatened along with other members regarding the vote.

“Here’s a group asking us to be included, to include them,” she said. “But it’s the emails and threats that I’ve received came from a conversation that I had with the gay community when I explained that I had met with gay individuals in our community who were not for the pride event—and they went ballistic. And I have recorded calls. ... I got a death threat as well, so it was very serious.”

She also read a letter to the editor published in the Williamson Herald in 2022, written by Pieter Valk, a gay man who said he did not feel welcome at the festival despite Franklin Pride’s supposed inclusivity.

“Gay celibate Christians like me were told that our community—our kind of gay person—was not welcome at Franklin Pride,” he wrote. “[This was] going to be my first Pride and a first Pride experience for many of my gay celibate Christian friends. We were eager to participate and contribute our unique color of the rainbow. Instead, we’ve been painfully excluded.”

Alderwoman Brandy Blanton, who voted to approve the festival permit, said although there was a large number voicing opposition in person, the debate at the meeting didn’t “reflect the people that I’ve heard from that are not in this room tonight.”

Alderman Matt Brown said he couldn’t deny the permit because of First Amendment rights and the importance of following the law.

“This permit is for a six-hour event in Harlinsdale Park, wrapped in signage, with no drag shows, that the only people who get to go into that park and into that event are the people who want to be there,” he said. “If we deny this permit, that’s no longer a six-hour event in that park. This is filling up our main streets with protests ... from a national level. We are inviting the very thing that you think that you’re afraid of.”

Citizens Speak

Citizen comments throughout the night against the festival included people suggesting a private venue and many pointing to their Christian faith as reasons for denial.

One resident from the community of College Grove, Tennessee, expressed his opposition while wearing a “protect all children” sticker on his shirt.

“I do not hate the LGBT community or wish them any harm,” he said. “But I believe the lifestyle is wrong. This isn’t about hate, racism, inclusion, equity, or even political correctness—this is about morality, moral fortitude, fiber, and character. As a Christian, I must stand for the values I believe in. ... We owe it to our children and grandchildren to stand for our Christian and biblical values and principals.”

Miki Cutler, who identified herself as a lesbian and leader of the Tennessee chapter of Gays Against Groomers, spoke in opposition to the event and its “sexually explicit nature.”

“I am here to tell you that I am a gay woman. I am a gay woman who is unfortunately all too familiar with the contents of pride,” she said. “I’m a gay woman appalled by the sexually explicit nature of these pride events and I’m appalled that people believe that they have the right to expose children to these sexually explicit events in the name of equality and inclusivity.”

Speakers in Favor of Event

Another speaker, Katharine Klein, said the board should “not be intimidated by a vocal minority” and should approve the permit.

“If you deny this permit, you are telling every single LGBTQ person in this city, in this community, that they are not worthy, that they are not equal, that they are not welcome, and that it is OK to discriminate against them,” she said. “Do not discriminate against these kids. Do not discriminate against these adults. They belong here as much as all of the protesters, as all of the vocal minority belongs here. Do not let that vocal minority decide who is worthy.”

Klein also mentioned that last year, the city issued a proclamation celebrating Franklin Pride. The city did issue the proclamation, which was read aloud by Blanton on behalf of the mayor at the 2022 event as shown in a video posted to the city’s official YouTube channel.

The city proclaimed June 4, 2022, as Pride Day in Franklin.

“What happened?” Klein asked. “Why are we still debating this issue? Are those words meaningless? Because we are still here, it makes me think that they are.”

A high school senior self-identifying as transgender also spoke at the meeting in support for the festival, saying pride was an outlet “to be with our community and celebrate” amid LGBT people being “hunted on a national level.”

A man named Tom Rice said he moved to Williamson County in 1998 and has attended previous Franklin Pride events.

“I can say as a fact, because I sat right in the front row during the celebration, that there weren’t idle children roaming around being molested or whatever you want to call it,” he said. “They were there with their parents and supervisors.”

Mayor’s Dilemma

Mayor Ken Moore did not hide his disdain for having to break the tie after a 4–4 vote, even saying sarcastically, “Boy, you all are great” to his colleagues.

“I think the worst thing about what I’m seeing tonight is there is division among our community on an issue, and both sides have pretty much drawn a line in the sand,” he said. “I take it very seriously that I represent all the people in Franklin, and one of the initiatives I’ve been leading now for about five years is Unite Williamson, where we try to help people understand who their neighbors are.”

He said because Franklin Pride did make the requested changes, he would vote to approve the event but he warned organizers that this year it will be closely monitored.

“I consider that I’m giving you a lifeline for this event and here’s the short line on it now,” he said. “I’m going to work to make sure if you violate the trust that we’re placing in you right now, that I will work as hard as I work every single day to make sure that that event never happens in Franklin again.”