Image Credit: Blount Pride / Facebook & maryvillecollege.edu
The Tennessee Conservative Staff –
Blount County’s annual gay pride celebration will have to find a new location after Maryville College officials denied their bid for venue rental.
Organizers claim they were denied access to the venue because the group refused to cancel drag performances scheduled as a part of the event.
However, a statement from the college instead says legal issues, as well as public reaction and safety concerns, regarding last year’s event led to their decision to deny the request.
Maryville allowed the Blount Pride event to be held on their campus in September 2023 in their Clayton Center for the Arts. Fifth Judicial District Attorney General Ryan Desmond sent a letter to event organizers and city officials stating that he was prepared to enforce state law forbidding drag shows.
After the ACLU filed a lawsuit on behalf of the event organizers, Maryville College allowed them to use the venue. Protestors flooded the campus, holding signs to promote the law.
The event included a drag queen story time, as well as a speech from Zooey Zephyr, a transgender Democrat representative from Montana.
In regards to this year’s event, Blount Pride’s social media statement on Tuesday said that the college asked them to cancel drag performances that were a part of the event. After a failure to answer questions sent in response by Blount Pride, the college denied their request, according to the post.
Maryville College also released a statement saying that they could not approve the rental contract because of “the College’s ability to deal with the legal ramification and public reaction.”
Sources state that last year’s fiasco cost the college tens of thousands of dollars in legal expenses and many students left campus during the event due to fear of safety conditions in regards to expected protests. However, reports state that Maryville College has offered to be a sponsor of this year’s event after another venue is secured.
Blount Pride says it has submitted a request to hold the event at Jack Green Park, where the event was held in 2022, but is awaiting word from the City of Maryville in regards to that application.
They say they “promise to continue to fight to protect all-ages drag performance(s)” and that “drag is a vital part of any pride celebration.”
7 Responses
The ACLU has a place but since most places have banned outhouses I’m hard put to find that place. If the ACLU decides to not follow the rule of law and promote more divisiveness in our state, perhaps we need to legalize outhouses again so they can be put in their place.
Maryville College stepping up. & taking a Stand!
Lead the way Maryville College!!!
If you read closely, the college does not want the responsibility for security and liability, but they have still offered to sponsor the event once another venue is found so they’re not really taking a stand against it
I would refuse the mental patients “event” too, their “so called pride” is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to disrupt and destroy everything we as Americans hold dear. I will never acknowledge these peoples mental fantasy they choose to force on all of us. I considered myself pretty tolerant of all this stuff until it was turned into a weapon against everyone.
Good for Maryville College for taking a stand!
Mental illness should be treated not celebrated.
Serious question > Why do gay people want make Drag Queens their symbol? Is that what the aspire to be? I know gay people and they aren’t Drag Queens. Should straight people have strippers at their events?