Spencer to promote rural LGBTQI pride

The seventh annual Spencer Pride Festival will take place 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. this coming Saturday, June 1 on the Owen County courthouse lawn. The family-friendly event celebrates lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning and intersex pride within the south-central Indiana rural setting.

“This event showcases the growing recognition and acceptance for the gay community in Spencer and in southern Indiana,” said Eric Hamil, Spencer Pride, Inc. member and this year’s photographer for the event.

Spencer Pride is an inclusive event that has been taking place since 2007. Originally, the festival started out as a picnic organized by seven founders including Jonathan Balash and PFLAG (Parents Families and Friends of Lesbian and Gays) with 76 people in attendance its first year.

“We doubled our attendance every year for the first five years,” said Balash, now president of Spencer Pride, Inc., “We have now become the second largest festival in Spencer, with nearly 1,200 people in attendance, and we are still growing.”

This year’s Spencer Pride Festival has announced a diverse lineup of free live entertainment, food and nearly 70 vendors featuring local artists and other
festival activities.

This includes Quarryland Men’s Chorus, classically trained singers Amanda Biggs and Justin Teague, family-friendly belly dancing group Different Drummer Belly Dancers, Ted Green, Larry Morley, Dan Wyatt and Uncle Elizabeth’s Cabaret Show. Also performing is Tyra Jukes, a powerful blues singer, alongside guitarist and songwriter
Bruce Payton.

“We will also have our annual family-friendly drag show,” Balash said. “Spencer Pride is the only Indiana pride festival that features a live drag show on the county courthouse lawn.”

Also, the historic Tivoli Theater, recently restored by COOK, Inc. for an estimated $4.5 million dollars, will be offering free tours of the building every 30 minutes. This theater, which originally opened its doors in 1928, is considered a crown jewel of the downtown area.

This year’s Spencer Pride Festival will also help support a few local organizations as well.

“The White River Valley PFLAG will be hosting a yard sale in tandem with the festival in order to raise funds for the local chapter,” Cathy Wyatt said. Wyatt was recently appointed to the Spencer Pride, Inc. Board of Directors, and serves as president of White River Valley PFLAG.

Purchases made at the sale will go to support the PFLAG organization, which plays an important role for the LGBTQI families in south-central Indiana. Wyatt said they try to educate the community through outreach resources like PFLAG and to sponsor events like the pride festival.

“The coming-out process is different for everyone, but in my experience parents come out, families come out, and youth come out,” Wyatt said. “They need a place to turn to, both PFLAG and Spencer Pride are good places for that.”

Another local organization that will be helped this year through the festival is the Middle Way House. The organizers for the pride festival will be collecting donations of personal items to help women transition when they are relocated.

“These types of items are essential to women,” said Balash. “Any donations
are appreciated.”

Positive Link, an IU Health program and sponsor of the festival, will be providing free HIV testing all day.

“Most people think small rural towns are close-minded, but not Spencer,” Balash said. “They have been so welcoming. Our motto is ‘It’s not the size of the community that counts, it’s what you do with it.’”

This event is family-friendly, pet-friendly and free. For more information regarding the pride festival, visit the Spencer Pride Inc. website at www.spencerpride.org.