‘Look how far we’ve come’: TriPride 2019

On Sept. 7, the second TriPride event took place to a large crowd filled with those in the LGBTQ+ community and many who were there just to show support.

The pride event was held near downtown Kingsport with the theme this year being “Look How Far We’ve Come.”

“We had to completely re-think the festival footprint based on the new location,” said Sandra Hagen, TriPride board member and treasurer. “There are pros and cons to any location, and we made it work in both cities by collaborating with them. Additionally, the chalk art contest was new this year; last year we did an art slam.”

The sidewalk art was lined with important figures of the LGBTQ+ movement as well as art and T-shirts commemorating 50 years of pride since the Stonewall demonstrations and riot in 1969.

“All you had to do was look around yesterday to see the progress,” said Hagen. “The police were protecting everyone. Protests happened, but peacefully while local and national organizations were celebrating together with a parade down Main Street. Seeing the progress is motivation to make more.”

The festival kicked off with a parade early in the morning going through downtown Kingsport. It was the first LGBTQ+ pride parade in Kingsport’s history. The parade was composed of floats, decorated cars and hundreds of walkers. Accompanying the parade and working the festival were dozens of volunteers.

“We have committees in charge of the many different aspects of the festival: volunteers, entertainment, food, etc.,” Hagen added. “Each of us takes ownership of our pieces, and then we communicate very frequently and well leading up to the festival and the day of to make all the pieces come together.”

After the parade, the entertainment lineup for the evening started and was MC’d by Vickie Combs while DJ’d by DJ Cub. The first of two drag performances began, followed by the welcoming from officials. The Knoxville Gay Men’s Chorus, a group formed in 2012 to create a visible presence for LGBTQ+ persons in the east Tennessee region, performed shortly after the address.

Succeeding the chorus was the second and last drag performance of the day. Porch 40, an Asheville-based funk rock band, then went onto the stage to perform an hour long set that ended with an encore.

Following Porch 40, Johnson City’s Eureka O’Hara took the stage to huge applause as she delivered a speech thanking everyone for coming and even addressing the protesters for coming out. Eureka has competed on multiple national stages as well as gaining fame for appearing on “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”

After Eureka left the stage, the winners of the chalk art contest were announced and awarded with cash prizes. The contest was split by professional artists and college student artists. Taylor Campbell won the first place prize of $350 for professionals, and Rebecca Church won the first place prize of $150 for college student artists.

The entertainment closed with a performance by Ladybirds, a recently formed trio. Outside of entertainment, 19 food vendors were stationed as well as organizations and universities showing support. Free STD testing was available all day, and volunteers handed out water to make sure the attendees stayed hydrated in the hot weather.

Protesters were around all day, stationed outside of the festival grounds shouting things with a megaphone.

Security had a strong presence inside and outside of the grounds. Precautions were taken to keep the peace as some protesters entered the grounds. No reported incidents occurred.

“For large events in this day and age, and especially Pride events, it’s the security unknowns,” Hagen stated. “The security plan this year was heavily researched based on last year’s event in Johnson City and other national events. The goal was for everyone to have a safe day.”

The festival ended with closing remarks from officials around 6:30 p.m. in the evening.

“We are already planning for Bristol 2020,” Hagen notes. “When TriPride was founded in 2017, the intention was to rotate the festival around the Tri-Cities because regionalism is such an important theme here.”