KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — "You're good enough just the way you are," is what Chrissie and Daniel Batts tell their child. They have a teenager who is part of the LGBTQ+ community.
They were 12 years old when they first communicated to their parents they were different, Chrissie said.
Chrissie and Daniel slowly started to unpeel those layers of the onion and figured out who their child was while giving them a safe space to navigate their own exploration.
"We've always been really close with our kiddo and so they felt comfortable and safe coming to us," Chrissie said. "We were the first ones that they came to. That is the thing that we're most proud of as parents is just, them being who they are, regardless of what that looks like."
According to Daniel, this information didn't come as a surprise because they knew their child and they were close. Yet, the unknown path coincided with social expectations and both Chrissie and Daniel knew they had a long way to go.
"We were a little bit nervous for them, not because of who they were but because of the world and the way the world is," Daniel said. "We love our kids' full stop. There are a lot of people in the world that want you to conform to what they think the world should be based on whatever their belief systems are. And when people live outside of that, then people don't understand it, they get scared and then they do irrational and dangerous things. And so we were scared, or a little bit nervous for what that was going to be like for our kid."
They built a strong support system around their child and began a long road, as Chrissie described it, that included lots of people and health care. They now have a supportive community and often advocate for human rights.
At the Knox Pride Festival, Chrissie and Daniel brought Mama Bear Sweet Treats, their cookie business.
It was the second anniversary of the Knox Pride Community Resource Center and John Camp, the CEO of the East Tennessee Equality Council and executive director of Knox Pride, said as part of their annual festival people can come and be themselves.
"No matter if you're queer or not, living your most authentic life is a protest and everyone deserves to live their most authentic, happy life," Camp said. "So, here, with whatever we're doing, whether it's an event like this, or the 30 free event, community events we do a month, we want people to feel like they can come and be themselves. Even if it is just for those two or three hours during the event. It gives people joy, it gives people hope and no one should be persecuted for being who they are."
Sunday was the third and last day of Knox Pride Fest 2023. The first Sunday of each month from March to October, they do a local vendors market at the Pride Center.
On Friday, they had a parade that started on Gay Street and they saw 3,000 participants. Saturday at World's Fair Park they had about 150 vendors and 75 performers. On Sunday, the festival spotlighted about 45 vendors and a couple of food trucks.
Bryana Ezell is the owner of Sweet Busy Bee shop and sells cross stitch, embroidery and digitally designed things.
"Queer people have always been here in East Tennessee, so to have things that they like as well and have things that they identify with and feel comfortable with in every aspect of their personality, it's important to have," Ezell said. "I hope that as a community people learn that everyone has a right to exist they have a right to feel comfortable. They have a right to certain needs like food and shelter and all that, and that you should mind the business that pays you, no one's harming anyone. So let them be."
In the coming months, Knox Pride will expand the service of its center from 2,000 square feet to 6,000. They plan to open a youth drop-in center where the goal is to help younger generations with career-building skills, according to the executive director of Knox Pride.
Being true to yourself is important, Daniel said, and there's one thing that's universal.
"I think that when you can believe in who you are when you can understand yourself well enough to live authentically as who you were made to be, I think that it creates more joy in your life, more happiness," Daniel said. "It creates more authenticity in your relationships, and ultimately, it leads to a more fulfilling life. I think everybody should be able to do that. It doesn't matter, what you look like, what you believe - we ultimately just want to love and be loved."