Image Credit: Knox Pride / Facebook
The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
Children attended all-day drag shows and were invited to a “shadow cast” performance acted out as an R-rated movie played at the biggest Pride festival in Tennessee over the weekend.
Knox Pride, touted as the largest Pride festival in all of the south, was supported in person by local liberal churches and Democrat politicians who marched in the parade held on Friday night.
Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon, who proudly attended the Drag Queen Christmas Show at the city’s historic Tennessee Theatre in 2022, was in attendance along with Representative Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville-District 90) who attended TriPride last year in Johnson City, Tennessee, as one of their Grand Marshals.
Attendees had plenty to say about the weekend’s events on social media including that the festival is in decline.
According to one comment, children were present for many of the Drag show performances on Saturday at which cash tips were taken by performers, despite a state law that bans drag performances from public property and requires them to take place only in age-restricted venues.
Knox Pride wrapped up the festivities on Saturday with an after-party that included yet more Drag in the form of a pre-show before a “shadow cast” performance of The Rocky Horror Picture Show in the World’s Fair Park Amphitheatre at 8pm. The performance, acted out as the R-rated movie was shown, was billed by Pride organizers as a “free community event for the entire family.”
According to Common Sense Media, the 1975 movie is “based upon complex adult themes of sexuality and personal freedoms/lifestyles.” Not recommended for anyone younger than 15, Common Sense Media states that “mature teens with an understanding of sexuality and individuality are the best audience.”
Knox Pride’s eight-person leadership team is headed up by John Camp, who allegedly has two husbands, who are both on the board. Members of the “queer” community also say that there is not enough transparency about how donations are spent or how decisions are made.
According to a 2023 tax return, the non-profit organization’s salary expenses jumped from approximately $7,000 in 2022 to over $70,000 in 2023.
One person wrote, “In 2023 they brought in $244k in donations in the community’s name, spent $70k on the CEO, $8k on meals and entertainment and $4k on travel. I’m not sure where the rest went since they couldn’t afford water or tents. Yet they have ignored or overwritten the term limits the non profit was established with, hold no public meetings, and have contempt for anyone who questions their actions.”
Last year’s sponsors of the festival included major sponsors US Bank, Clayton Homes, and Volkswagen and official sponsors Walgreens, First Horizon, Amazon, and University of Tennessee Colleges of Law and Social Work.
According to this year’s sponsor packet, $5,000 is the donation amount to be named as a major sponsor, while $1,000 grants the title of official sponsor.
Walgreens, a returning sponsor, provided flu and Covid shots to attendees this year.
Other complaints about the festival ranged from the difficulty in accessing water, alcohol being banned, long lines to purchase overpriced food, and the lack of variety in entertainment.
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
9 Responses
If you can’t keep your kids away from things you don’t want them to see, you aren’t doing your job as a parent.
You seem to know a lot. I have gay family and friends but none are Drag Queens and none promote Drag Queens. Why are Drag Queens (female impersonators) the representatives of gay people? Strippers don’t represent straight people. If you have kids, do you want them to become Drag Queens? Would you support kids going to see Strippers?
There is simply no comparison between drag performers and stripper. Strippers exist for the sole purpose of sexual tittilation. Drag, or if you prefer, female impersonation, goes back hundreds of years. It is entertainment. A typical drag show involves men wearing extravagant makeup and costumes and lip syncing to popular songs. It is entertainment, pure and simple. Is it any wonder that “Rupaul’s Drag Race” has been on TV for 15 seasons now?
This is R RATED festivities and those of the left are disgraceful. And I’d argue you are too with a response like that.
I wonder how the ACLU would respond if Christians had a parade with religious music blaring down the street and inviting kids to join Bible studies. Oh don’t answer that – we already know the answer.
I doubt if the ACLU would care. The ACLU defends freedom of expression more than anything. If Christians have a parade, no doubt there are many parents who would take their kids, and many who would not. I’m not sure why Christians would want to have a parade anyway. Most Americans are Christian. Virtually all religious programming on TV and radio is Christian-oriented. And the ONLY religious holiday that causes the private and public sectors to grind to a halt is a Christian holiday. If anything, Christians in America have historically been given preferential treatment.
Its deeply embedded in the schools today. You may be able to control after school but they have your child more than you do.
This is disgusting and incorrigible.
Just have to say this is sick and perverted.
Jude 1:3-7 NIV
3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. 4 For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
5 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
Scripture speaks truth.
In God we trust not government or man.
Have a blessed day.