Pride event and protest to be held in Rexburg on Saturday
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REXBURG — The community of Rexburg is invited to join its LGBTQ+ neighbors at the annual Rexburg Pride festival on Saturday. The celebration will be held at Porter Park.
Flourish Point, a nonprofit center in Rexburg that helps the LGBTQ+ community access mental health and support services, is hosting the event again this year. The organization’s website says Saturday will be “a day of celebration, love and unity among LGBTQ folks and allies alike.”
Such events, says attendee Sammie Jo Evans of Rexburg, are more than just parties.
“Some (LGBTQ) people still think they’d be better off dead or miserable in a relationship they don’t actually want because they aren’t able to be true to themselves,” Evans told EastIdahoNews.com.
“Pride events are places of visibility. They raise awareness of the issues faced by the community, but more importantly, they create community,” said Kyle Ashworth, the host of the Latter Gay Stories podcast and event vendor. “These celebrations of diversity are necessary for a vibrant and healthy social environment.”
He stressed children are not being groomed into homosexuality or gender incongruity at Pride events. Rather, “people are finding communities of people who support them for who they are.”
“I found family in this community,” said Evans. “I hope people in Rexburg learn that the drag we do here is not sexualizing kids — it’s not a drag club. I hope they learn that we are just like everyone else — we just want to love and be loved. (We want) acceptance without judgment.”
“Our goal for the day is a positive and joyful event,” Rexburg Pride organizer Joni Hunt said in a news release.
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The festivities will kick off at 3 p.m. at Porter Park, 154 South Third West. There will several vendors and food trucks set up for the public to enjoy. Various acts (including some in drag) will perform at the Beehive Pavilion.
“We are also excited to welcome a great lineup of local performers alongside the band Suit Up, Soldier, which will headline our festival,” the news release said. There will be singers, a poetry reading and some comments from a Flourish Point representative, according the event’s program.
A Unity Walk around the park (think Pride Parade, but on a smaller scale) will begin at 5 p.m. The events at the park will be rounded off at 7 p.m. by Suit Up, Soldier.
An 18+ dance party with the Queens at the Romance Theater is scheduled for 8 p.m., according to a news release from Rexburg Pride.
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Protest planned
A protest spearheaded by MassResistance, an extreme pro-family and anti-LGBTQ advocacy group, is planned to coincide with Rexburg Pride. One of the local organizers of the protest is former state Rep. Ron Nate, who also works with the Idaho Freedom Foundation.
Nate and MassResistance have previously protested other LGBTQ or drag events in eastern Idaho.
“Pride events are inherently anti-family, and they are confusing for kids,” Nate told EastIdahoNews.com. “MassResistance is providing information about the drag queen events from years past and how they are scheduled again this year — just feet away from the community splash park and park playsets.”
As in years past, protesters will create a human wall by standing side-by-side in order to block the public’s view of the event.
Nate said he encourages concerned parents and citizens to come to the event and join the the protest by “(standing) in the gap to protect children.”
“This is a peaceful protest,” he said. “It’s done out of love and caring for children. We want to protect children. … We love our community and our community members. We should all be loving, caring and protective of the children of Rexburg. Pride seems more interested in advancing its agenda than in protecting children.”
“I believe in protests,” Ashworth said when asked about his response to the planned protest. “Many are unaware that the early beginnings of what is known today as Pride also began as a protest. There is beauty in civil protest and the sharing of diversity and belief. I am against violence, intimidation, prejudice and discrimination.”
Rexburg Pride has put safeguards in place to keep the festivities peaceful and respectful.
“Our volunteer Rexburg Pride de-escalation team will … be on site to create a safer space for our attendees,” Rexburg Pride said in their news release. The organization emphasized that it has a “zero engagement” policy and encourages attendees “to decline to engage with those who may attempt to interrupt our joy.”
The Rexburg Police Department and Infinity Security will be on hand to ensure that festival-goers and any protests are safe.
