Featured Photo by Cadee Havard
Story by Kaleigh Young
Over the weekend, Murfreesboro residents could celebrate the LGBTQ+ community by attending BoroPride at the Tennessee Miller Coliseum.
It had live performers from artists such as Queer Agenda, Flummox, Fame & Fiction and Volk. Drag queen Sasha Velour attended, who won RuPaul’s ninth season of Drag Race in 2017. The event also included a pet costume contest, since it was so close to Halloween.
Inside and outside the venue were many vendors who were either LGBTQ+ organizations or merchandise vendors that sold jewelry, art, t-shirts, records and trinkets. There were also many options of food trucks for the community to choose from.
Last year BoroPride held an all-ages drag show, which many enjoyed though it recieved divided feedback. When it became closer to BoroPride 2023, many citizens including Mayor Shane McFarland held mixed opinions toward it. Last summer McFarland, alongside City Manager Craig Tindall, passed an ordinance regarding decency in the public eye. The ordinance was to stop drag shows in public areas. On Oct. 23, a federal judge overruled the ordinance, allowing BoroPride to continue. The drag show this year had to be ages 18 and up, however.
One of the vendors at Boropride was the Tennesee Pride Chamber. The executive director, Stephanie Mahnke, was at their table with a wheel to win free prizes on whichever object you landed on.
“The Tennessee Pride Chamber focuses on educating, advocating and connecting our LGBTQIA+ businesses, whether they identify as LGBTQIA+ or they’re affirming businesses across Tennessee, so we educate folks about some of the LGBTQIA+ topics that matter, especially for the workplace,” Mahnke said. “Then, they also connect all the networks of folks that need to get to know each other. Finally, they advocate with a full-time lobbyist and fight for legislative change that helps LGBTQI communities and businesses to grow.”
Mahnke talked about the importance of coming to queer events outside of Nashville, such as BoroPride.
“We need representation, particularly in rural counties and some of the lesser known like progressive cities particularly, because the state legislators that are pushing back against us are not from places like Nashville. They’re from places like Murfreesboro, [and] Franklin, so we need that representation out here, we need to educate folks, and we need to combine into a cohesive voice.”
Another vendor at Boropride was Movember, a male prostate cancer advocacy organization. They focus on the importance of male physical health just as much as their mental health.
Sayco Alford is a member of the Movember movement and had prostate cancer last year. He is bringing awareness so more men will remind themselves to have physical exams done and talk to their doctors about the disease. The easiest way to get involved with the Movember movement is to go online to their website and read up about it. There are also ways to volunteer online.
Sayco said that BoroPride is essential. He emphasized the humanity of the event and how important it is to be informed and involved with multiple sectors of life, including men’s health.
“All communities matter, everyone matters,” he said. “Murfreesboro needs these kinds of functions not just once a year but all the time and that’s why I came down.”
One of the other organizations displayed at BoroPride was Ellie Mental Health.
Ellie Mental Health is a therapy organization that takes over 100 commercial insurances. They are also open to all ages and individuals and provide couples therapy.
One of the team members, Josh Johson, said, “A lot of our staff here is a part of the LGBTQIA+ community. As a clinic, we are very specifically minded towards reaching out to that community and making sure that especially in a state like Tennessee people have safe places to be where they don’t have to worry about how the other person is perceiving them.”
He explained that another setback for queer citizens in Murfreesboro is the lack of safe spaces with all the negative legislation being placed.
“Let’s face it. This is a very conservative state, it’s a very conservative county. The fact that the community itself can come together and even when the local government doesn’t want to sponsor a private event at the local community come together and find a private venue so that the community can still have a place to just feel like they can be fully themselves in the presence of other people without fearing judgment, without fearing violence. That is important for any population and that’s important for all populations and it must be necessary for the LGBTQIA+ population,” Johnson said.
Featured artists at the festival by Cadee Havard
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