Image Credit: Olivia Hill / Facebook
Tennessee Conservative News [By Paula Gomes] –
A Metro Nashville Council member dressed in drag to perform at a fundraiser for Nashville Pride earlier this month.
Nashville Pride Board Member Brandon Norfleet, joined other city leaders, including openly trans Metro Nashville council member Olivia Hill, to participate in a community drag show to raise money for Nashville’s Pride festival as corporate sponsors continue to lay low for the second year in a row.
“Turn About” was hosted by Nashville school teacher Benjamin Slinkard, aka Kennedy Ann Scott at Play Dance Bar. Slinkard, a longtime employee of Metro Nashville Public Schools who hosted the main stage during last year’s festival, is to be presented this year with a “Trailblazer Award.”
Norfleet chose the name “Baby Aspartame” for his drag persona because of his obsession with Diet Coke.
While new to drag, Norfleet has attended Nashville Pride for over ten years.
Last year, Nashville Pride lost nearly half of their corporate sponsorship, the worst financial crisis the organization had seen in thirty-five years, which led to a hurried campaign to raise money over the course of seven weeks to “Keep Pride alive.”
Along with Vanderbilt University Medical Center who pulled out just weeks before the festival’s scheduled date, other big names that decided not to renew sponsorship included Nissan, Dollar General, and Cracker Barrel. Others, like Jack Daniel’s, gave less than in previous years.
Following a presidential executive order at the beginning of 2025, ending government support for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs, organizations in Tennessee scrubbed DEI language from their websites and budgets for DEI followed suit.
At the state level, the Tennessee General Assembly also passed legislation aimed at stopping DEI programs in hiring practices and also cracking down on DEI departments in governmental and public institutions.
This year, organizers for the Pride festival were short in the budget to the tune of a quarter-million dollars which meant turning to the community to raise funds to cover the shortfall once again.
After fundraising, the group was still lacking around $100,000 and had to scale back plans to just one day instead of its original plans for the weekend.
While the festivities will not be as extensive as in years past, organizers still have events planned for children on June 27th.
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
