BLOUNT COUNTY, Tenn. — Blount Pride is working to bring a Pride celebration to the community in 2024 but said its application to use Maryville College's Clayton Center for the Arts was denied.
In 2023, the college hosted the Blount Pride Festival despite attracting national attention and controversy. The controversy began after the District Attorney General for the area sent a letter saying he would enforce a law that has now been ruled unconstitutional twice in Tennessee. That law effectively bans public drag performances.
The 2023 Blount Pride Festival was held in early September, attracting vendors and visitors to the college campus despite a gathering of protestors who held signs against the students, the festival and their identities. The protest was largely organized by far-right groups in East Tennessee.
Organizers brought out drag performers for a storytime event, bands for live music performances and organizations for a resource fair. Rep. Zooey Zephyr, a Democrat and transgender representative from Montana, also arrived to give a speech.
On Tuesday, Blount Pride posted on social media and said its application to use the same venue for the 2024 festival was denied. At first, organizers said they were asked to exclude drag from the festival. After asking Maryville College to be more clear about how it defined drag, organizers said the application was denied.
Organizers said they submitted an application to use Jack Greene Park for its 2024 festival instead, the location where its 2022 festival was held. The application is still pending approval from the City of Maryville, Blount Pride said.
Until a venue is secured, Blount Pride said it will not have a date to provide for the event.
The full statement from Blount Pride is available below.
"Hey y'all, Blount Pride here! First of all, let us say that we love our community and cannot express the amount of pride (no pun intended) we feel from celebrating with you over the years! Typically, around this time of the year, we would have already shared the details for our next event. And we know you all have been patiently waiting for an announcement for Blount Pride 2024.
In hopes of replicating the joy and success of our 2023 event at the Clayton Center for the Arts, we once again submitted an application to Maryville College for Blount Pride 2024. Our application was considered for several months after which we were asked to exclude drag from the festival.
We asked the college several questions, including asking them to define drag performance. They did not answer our questions, but instead, two weeks later, denied our application.
Following this application denial, we submitted an application for the same venue Blount Pride 2022 was held, Jack Greene Park. Our application is currently still pending approval from the city of Maryville.
We at Blount Pride enthusiastically uphold our mission to uplift and celebrate the LGBTQ+ community of Blount County! We will continue to host events, share local resources, and build connections. What we need from you is your continued vocal support both in-person and online for Blount Pride and the LGBTQ+ community. Let Blount County know that there's still pride in them/their hills!"
Maryville College also posted a statement about the Blount Pride festival, saying it was not able to reach a rental agreement for the event at the Clayton Center for the Arts. It said the 2023 event resulted in "legal wrangling, media attention, and protests." It also said the District Attorney's actions cost the college tens of thousands of dollars in legal expenses and other costs.
"The college experienced safety concerns prior to the event, with strangers wandering campus and through buildings, looking for college leaders. Numerous students left campus for the weekend (the first weekend on campus for most), concerned about planned protests and likely disruption, and in the preceding days, many campus offices and staff members were taken away from normal duties," the college said.
The college said moving forward, it needs to be conscious of its "responsibilities of educating current students and operating the college in a safe and orderly manner." It also said it has strong support for the LGBTQ+ community.
The statement said the lack of an agreement was not a stance on drag performers or a lack of support for Blount Pride, and more about the college's ability to deal with legal ramifications and public reaction.
"The college believes legal actions and protests would very likely occur again, especially in a major election year and with political polarization at an all-time high. We regret the consequences of this hyperpolitical environment we're all working to navigate, but this is our current reality," it said.
