Hours of Pride Comments, But No Change

By April L. Bogle

Mayor Bradley Bean announced at last night’s City Commission meeting that the June 10 Fernandina Beach Pride parade and festival in Central Park will proceed as planned, despite requests from Citizens Defending Freedom-Nassau (CDF-Nassau), a conservative political organization, to rescind the permit or move the festival to another venue.

“This permit has already been approved. I will support staff’s decision to approve it,” Bean said, prompting cheers from citizens gathered in the auditorium and from Pride supporters listening to the proceedings via speakers outside the building.

“There is not going to be a kid zone,” Bean added, then stated, “Here in Fernandina Beach we take our freedom of speech and freedom of assembly very seriously.”

Even though Pride festivities were not on the meeting agenda, more than 200 city and county citizens showed up to support or oppose the events. Dozens lined the sidewalks in front of the building and across the street, waving signs and flags, with pro-Pride supporters far outnumbering those against it.

Inside the auditorium, 48 people spoke for three minutes each during the public comment period, with two-thirds sharing their reasons for supporting the planned Pride events, and one-third saying why they thought the events should be changed. Those in support spoke about love and acceptance and denounced how hate is dividing the community. Those against said the events violated city and state laws, even though City Attorney Tammi Bach has stated they do not.

There were notions of common ground, including the importance of continuing to be a welcoming community, encouraging diversity and respecting freedom of speech, but the actual approaches couldn’t have been further apart – especially when they discussed how children should be kept safe.

Michael Miller asked the commission to withdraw approval of the festivities because he believes they will be used to “groom” children to change their sexual orientation. “The vast majority of (Central) Park consists of the playground, ballfields and picnic areas that are populated with children and families. This is no place to conduct sexual indoctrination or promotion. I say this because it’s a widespread thing that’s happening locally throughout the state, throughout the country. Explicit sexual books including how to perform anal intercourse are being removed from school libraries and schools throughout the country. There are schoolteachers that are moving kids toward alternative lifestyles and they don’t have to reveal that to the parents. So there’s a lot of efforts that are going on towards grooming. I believe it is unethical, possibly criminal, to promote alternative sexuality to children. It’s known as grooming and laws are being passed at state and local levels to prevent this from happening,” he said.

Jamie Wilkinson, a 12-year resident of Fernandina Beach, believes that Pride events are what children need, and she fought back tears as she told the story of her son. “When he was 11 years old, he came out to me that he was gay. We attended the Pride festival and he shone with such joy and pride that he almost burst with it, and I was so proud to be a citizen of Fernandina Beach that day. And then when he was 13, he came out as trans, and I was terrified because I know that 82% of trans teens think about suicide and 40% of trans teens attempt suicide, and that is something that no mother wants their child to go through. But knowing that we had this community of support and love and respect where he could be treated with dignity and acceptance, it made me feel a little bit better. And we went to the festival last year and there was nothing there but love and support. There was no indecency. It was a place where my child who’s grown up here could be seen and heard and know that they weren’t alone. And they need that.”

Pediatrician Jill Bolstad’s comments substantiated the importance of community support in the health of LGBTQ children. “It’s been suggested that we should cancel future pride events to protect our children … the opposite is actually true,” Bolstad said that an Academy of Pediatrics study released less than two years ago showed that the risk of suicide in LGBTQ children is more than double, and occurs in younger ages, than their heterosexual peers. Suicide, the study revealed, is directly related to depression caused by discrimination, bullying and isolation. The study’s recommendation for decreasing the risk of suicide is access to LGBTQ-affirming spaces in homes, schools and communities.

“The Pride parade and events are this – they’re an LGBTQ-affirming space in our community. This is exactly the type of community support these children need and we need to give them to protect them,” Bolstad said.

CDF-Nassau Executive Director Jack Knocke, whose disapproval of Pride events has been widely covered by local news media, said, “What this turned into was a massive amount of hatred toward me. And I hear the speakers saying they’re all about love and don’t want any hatred, and I’m amazed because I’ve been labeled homophobic, transphobic, racist, hate monger, false prophet, election denier, bigot, misogynistic and a Nazi. That’s not what I’m about, that’s not what I’m trying to do here,” he said, prompting boos from the crowd listening outside. “What we’re trying to do is maintain certain protected zones for children. If you look at our City Charter you’ll see children should be protected in churches, schools and parks. As I looked at the Fernandina Beach Pride event from last year, I looked at the vendors, I looked at the tables, and I looked at the participants as well, and yes there was a drag queen there … I’m not saying don’t have the festival, I’m just saying don’t have it at Central Park.”

Even though the speakers seemed to be talking at each other rather than listening to one another, some expressed hope for positive future discussions, including Paul Lore. “I think everybody’s looking at this evening as a time of divide, and I tell you it will actually be a time that will make our city and community … stronger,” he said.

At least two television news crews covered the event, including News4Jax, which incorrectly reported that “as of 9 p.m., no decision about the future of the parade has been made by officials.”

When asked if he would read the proclamation marking June as Pride Month at the opening of the June 10 Pride festival, as has been done by previous mayors, Bean said, “I’m not sure. I may be out of town.”