“Truth is the revelation of God’s nature and power. Says the word became flesh, and we have seen his glory. Jesus Christ is the true life command —” “And this was not a thing last year. We would just drive right in. I think some people can misconstrue drag as inherently sexual when it’s just not the case.” Last yr, town of Franklin held a Pride Festival with drag performances like these. But after footage of the present circulated on-line, some members of the city launched a marketing campaign to disclaim a allow for this yr’s occasion, describing it as a menace to kids. Then in early March, the Tennessee governor authorized a legislation geared toward limiting drag performances in public areas, additional heightening the stress in Franklin. “We shouldn’t be subjecting our kids to this — period, end of story.” “Drag queens thrusting genitals in front of kids.” “God hates sodomy. And God hates Pride.” “I’m Spencer Lyst. I’m 17 years old and from Franklin, Tenn. And I am also gay.” “Pride is one of our only outlets to be with our communities and celebrate.” “Pride is not harming our children. Taking away a place of acceptance is harming our children.” “Hi, my name is Spencer Lyst. I’m 17. I’m on the Franklin Pride Advisory Board. I want to say that community decency starts with not tearing down our neighbors because we don’t agree with them. In the past, we just applied to rent the park out. That process was unanimously approved. And this year, it kept getting pushed back and pushed back. And then, people had a lot to say about it.” “And God help you with your decency rules because —” “There was about two hours of public comment.” “I don’t want to see a guy twerking in front of me.” “They took their votes, and the mayor was the tie-breaking vote, voting to approve the festival.” “The same First Amendment that we’re talking about tonight for religious groups also applies to the Pride group.” “But it came with a warning that we would be under a microscope.” “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.” “For some of us, it gave us anxiety. And for others, it was just like, OK, then we’ve just got to put on a great event.” Then on June 2, the evening earlier than the pageant, a federal decide dominated the anti-drag legislation unconstitutional. But in Franklin, Pride organizers had already promised town that there can be no drag reveals this yr. “Whoa! Let me hear y’all. C’mon, Franklin Pride!” “You know, sometimes it can be really difficult to find a community around here. That’s why we have Pride. Specifically, the teen lounge provides teens a space to actually meet other L.G.B.T.Q. teens. Really important to have just because a good amount of parents around here do support their children. And then there is a portion who don’t.” “We know of families where when their kids came out, the fathers divorced and flat out left everybody. I want people to know that I’m there for them.” “Are you guys having fun?” “This year unfortunately, they required us to remove drag from all of our performances, which is a big bummer because our teens love the drag performances. So hopefully, those will be back in the future.” “I don’t really believe Pride is Pride without drag. And the people seem very happy that there’s at least some drag here.” “I’ve been all three years, actually. And things were going really swimmingly. So it was a real shock when things kind of came to a screeching halt. This year feels more like a fight.” The legal professional normal of Tennessee, backed by some Republican lawmakers, has signaled plans to enchantment the choice to overturn the drag ban. “It was different, I think, as opposed to previous years. You could definitely feel that you were being watched. But I don’t think there was anything bad to see.”
Source: www.nytimes.com