By Logan Langlois
NASHVILLE, TN — All hands are on deck for Franklin Pride’s fourth annual event to be hosted June 1, the organizers of which are preparing for upwards of 10,000 visitors, according to Board Member Robert McNamara. He said the festival is hosting 120 vendors with musical performances, some of which are newcomers and others being staples of the young festival’s now-established tradition. McNamara said the goal of Franklin Pride is to promote awareness of the LGBTQIA+ community proud to be living in Franklin.
“It gets a little emotional because people, families, they just love it,” McNamara said as he himself choked back happy tears. “I’ve had mothers just melt in my arms to be able to have a space like this for their children to come … Their children who thought they had no support and community whatsoever.”
McNamara said Franklin Pride, which is the first and only openly LGBTQIA+ annual event of its size in the city of Franklin or Williamson County, is located in a largely conservative city within a conservative county. Despite this, the event has fostered an increasingly dedicated community since its founding. He said festival organizers have been astonished at the level of support they have received since the event’s first year, during which they were expecting a turnout of around 500 people, and instead were pleasantly surprised with a loving crowd of 4,000 total guests. McNamara said festival attendance has grown significantly since, with last year’s third annual celebration showing significant growth at around 7,000 total attendees.
That year also saw the most amount of outward resistance, with the first-and-only-term alderman and MAGA flaunting Gabrielle Hanson leading the charge with support from both fellow aldermen and many conservative Franklin residents. Many said residents wore “Choose Decency” stickers while pleading with Franklin Alderman and Mayor Ken Moore to deny Franklin Pride the city permit which they had filed for ahead of time that December, according to McNamara. He also detailed he had been named personally several times by the opposition.
“Tons of them came and spoke and told us how awful we were, and we’re going to burn in hell and all of that,” McNamara said.
McNamara said Franklin Pride rallied their own support who also wrote to representatives asking for the festival to be permitted. The Franklin alderman vote came down to a split decision, passing the final say to Mayor Moore who ultimately voted to allow the event to commence. McNamara said this year has been far easier, as the alderman board unanimously voted to permit the festival without conflict.
“I’m not really sure what the difference was,” McNamara said. “What the main difference was … an alderman that riled the conservative voices and she is no longer on the board. So, the toxicity level has gone down. And then all the lawsuits saying that ‘you can’t deny these permits.’”
McNamara said last year’s local opposition and much of the hateful legislation being presented by the state legislator, especially over the past two years, feels largely disconnected from his daily life in Franklin. He said living in the community, he doesn’t typically feel actively discriminated against. McNamara made a special effort in fact to point out that the various city department heads that Franklin Pride has been working with to put on the event have been very kind and helpful to the board.
McNamara said Franklin Pride can be followed at their website franklinpridetn.org, or various social media under the same name.
Copyright 2024, TN TRIBUNE, all rights reserved. For Release: May 20, 2024