KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Volkswagen of America is partnering with the East Tennessee Equality Council doing business as Knox Pride to secure rent funding for the Knox Pride Community and Resource Center in 2024.
The partnership will cover the costs of the center's current two spaces, which will allow for Knox Pride to expand to include more services for the community including expanded mental health clinics in partnership with the University of Tennessee, food pantries, meeting spaces and offices.
“We are happy to announce this partnership with Volkswagen of America right before the 2023 Knox Pride Fest. Knox Pride Community and Resource Center will now have the possibility of expanding our footprint from 2,000 sq ft to approximately 6,000 sq ft with this investment into sustaining the work we do for the LGBTQIA+ community. We appreciate the investment of Volkswagen of America into East Tennessee,” said John Camp, the Knox Pride CEO, in a statement.
He said that rent for the space has been paid until January 2025. Currently, the space is around 2,400 square feet and he said with rent paid for the year, they will be able to expand into nearby spaces — at around 6,000 square feet.
"There's a lot of a lot of growth happening, especially in South Knoxville, not only with the queer community but with our homeless youth. We do a lot of work with homeless youth in the area. And we need the extra space," he said.
Knox Pride will be hosting the annual parade, festival and market from Oct. 6 to Oct. 8. As part of those celebrations, Knox Pride will celebrate the second anniversary of the community center.
"Yeah, I think the work we've been doing in the community in the state in our region, and with the Pride center really taking notice from a lot of people, they're putting their money behind that," said Camp.
He said last year, Knox Pride had 29 sponsors for its festival. This year, they have grown to 51 sponsors.
"We thought we might see a downturn in sponsors because of the stance we were taking with the word, 'protest.' And we did have a few people that were hesitant and maybe didn't end up working with us. But we have some really great folks behind us making sure that everything's working properly," said Camp.
The theme of the Knox Pride celebrations this year is "Celebrate. Pride. Protest." It's logo includes bricks, an homage to the Stonewall Uprising, that are painted in the transgender flag colors — white, blue and pink. Camp said this year's event will be similar to those from the past 20 years but with some more activism.
"This year, there's equal amounts of celebrating and protesting to be proud of who you are, whether it's the queer community or somewhere else. And especially with the legislature, we've been under attack this year. For years past, protest is an important part. Pride started as a protest. So we're not going to see much difference. We're just gonna see more unity, more lifting voices of folks who are minorities of our minority, and making sure that they're at the forefront and getting the support that they deserve," said Camp.