Greene Co. clerk says government entities are sponsoring Pridefest. That's not quite true

A June 2 Facebook post by Greene County Clerk Shane Schoeller has generated conversation about the City of Springfield's involvement in this weekend's upcoming Ozarks Pridefest. Here's what to know about who's involved and how.

What does Schoeller's post say?

Schoeller's post starts off by decrying the way that residents with "a woke agenda" are trying to "radically and even forcefully silence anyone who dares to voice a different or opposing point of view." He says that the Constitution prevents the government "from using the power of the state to impose our personal beliefs or ideas, religious or otherwise, on others."

Schoeller's post expresses concern that government entities "have chosen to sponsor these events with our taxpayer dollars, when it is without question a very sensitive and controversial cultural issue." His post says that while people can choose not to support a private business over what they support, people cannot "choose to pay our taxes elsewhere or choose not to pay them in protest."

"I want the tax dollars I pay to go directly to the statutory duties of the public entity itself and for any governmental entity funded by taxpayer dollars to cease funding anything that is outside the purpose and authority of that agency. Our leaders should never misappropriate our tax dollars to fund personal crusades."

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In the post, Schoeller calls on "the Judeo-Christian community (to) come together and speak up in order to protect our tax dollars, our families, and, especially, our children."

In a comment to the News-Leader, Schoeller wanted to emphasize that he believes "it is important to listen to each other and be respectful to each other in conversations where there is disagreement. It is an important conversation to have as we discuss critical matters regarding our children and how public taxpayer dollars are spent."

Is it true that government entities are sponsoring this event?

According to the Ozarks Pridefest website, Springfield-Greene County Health Department is listed as an "advocate sponsor" and the City of Springfield is listed as an "ally sponsor."

According to Ozarks Pridefest, sponsorship packages range from $50 to $5,000. An ally sponsor pays $250 and up, and an advocate sponsor pays $750 and up for benefits such as a booth and website listing. For nonprofit organizations, ally sponsors pay $125 and advocate sponsors pay $250.

City of Springfield spokeswoman Cora Scott clarified that the "city in general is not a sponsor," nor is it hosting the event. The health department and the city's human resources department have "obtained entry level sponsorships to set up booths for providing service information."

"In general, the health department’s interest is solely to provide health-related information to the public as they typically do at a variety of community events, in particular for those who may experience barriers to care," Scott said. "In general, Human Resources’ interest is to utilize the event as an employment recruitment opportunity since the event is expected to attract a large audience. Like the health department, human resources does historically take advantage of events that are expected to attract a large turnout."

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Also listed as an ally sponsor is the Springfield-Greene County Library District. However, according to the library's community relations director Kathleen O'Dell, the library "is not a sponsor as a funding entity."

"We will have a booth, free to us, in front of the Park Central Branch Library, with Library materials, a selection of library books for LGBTQ-interested readers, two booklists & a colorful streamer craft," O'Dell said in a statement.

How much taxpayer money is going toward this event?

For the SGCHD and the city's department of human resources to have booths at the event, the Ozarks Pridefest will receive $500, according to both Scott and the Springfield-Greene County Health Department.

"The complaints we have received seem to be based on inaccurate ideas that the City is hosting and spending great deals of taxpayer money on this," Scott said.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Are your taxpayer dollars paying for Ozarks Pridefest? Not quite.