Grassroots Pride event celebrates, educates LGBTQ+ community

In its inaugural Pride Month celebration, West Tennessee LGBTQ+ Support, LLC hosted members of the LGBTQ+ community and supporting friends and family at Pugh Bourne Park on June 24.

A number of vendors and resources set up shop at the park to take part in the celebration dedicated to providing a safe space for the Jackson and Madison County LGBTQ+ community.

Organizing against all odds

Event coordinator and cofounder of the LLC, Kal Reasons, explained that along with co-founder Megan McKee, they have been attempting to spearhead an event of this nature in a process that began in January.

"I'm just incredibly proud and grateful for the opportunity to be able to help head up something, and I've always dreamed of doing something like this," Reasons said.

The LLC, founded in September of 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, had a hindered ability to host events of the capacity in which they'd like, according to Reasons. Separate from Jackson Pride, the LLC aims to bridge the gap outside of Jackson Pride's once-a-year event and provide ample opportunities and spaces for those in the LGBTQ+ community.

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"We are a small grassroots organization that is dedicated to ensuring that nobody in this area feels alone. We are not here to fight with people because of what they want to believe, we just want to be left alone for what we believe," Reasons said.

With this event being the first of its kind hosted by the organization, challenges included insurance, cost, and threats of potential protests.

"The biggest issue we had was with, honestly, people wanting to bring attention and say bad things about us. Wanting to say that we're grooming children and indoctrinating children, when we're out with our families trying to celebrate who we are authentically. We are trying to be ourselves and have a good time, support small LGBTQ+ locally-owned businesses run by people that are members in our group that need the support."

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Reasons noted that talk of protests ran rampant across social media in the weeks leading up to the celebration, but the event ultimately went smoothly without disruption.

Charlee Vaultonburg, 19, was accompanied by their dad Dave at the event and explained the importance of having spaces to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community.

"For years, the only exposure I had was online to other gay people," Vaultonburg said. "My first Pride was last year after I came out to my parents and it was very relieving and now I know it's not scary or weird."

Support from local entities and businesses

Vendors in attendance at the event got to register their booth through a sign-up list that warranted a $30 vendor cost.

"These are people in the group, by the group, for the group," Reasons said.

The Madison Area Democratic (MAD) Women set up a booth at the Pride event in what the organization's president Debbie Swacker described as being "in support of what Kal is doing" by providing a positive space for the LGBTQ+ community. MAD's mission on that day in particular was focused on voter registration and voter education.

"Your vote is your superpower," Swacker said. "We're confident that with our mission and in partnering with organizations like Kal's that we can be a part of the change and the swing to inclusiveness and diversity and rights for all of us."

Another booth providing legal services for those in attendance was an intentional move that Reasons saw as being beneficial to those who might need it.

"We tried to reach out and make sure we had some social services so that we could be able to provide anti-discrimination and housing information to people within our community," Reasons said. "That's something a lot of our individuals face, they need a lot of legal services for name changes, discrimination, housing, work, healthcare, anything. Really, every part of our daily lives are affected by us being a part of the [LGBTQ+] community."

Future events for the community

Reasons explained that this event is not going to be the organization's last and hopes to expand its reach in the coming months.

"We are here to educate, enlighten, and empower all the LGBTQ+ community across West Tennessee and our surrounding areas," Reasons said. "So we're starting small in Jackson mostly, but we want to eventually be able to branch out to places like Savannah, Paris, things like that where we can have more events and bigger events with more people."

This article originally appeared on Jackson Sun: Grassroots Pride event in Jackson supports, educates LGBTQ+ community