Sylva Pride will parade through the streets for the first time in three years come Sept. 20, following a July 23 town commission vote. The parade will take place at the 6th annual Sylva Pride Festival. This year’s theme is “rainbow rodeo.”
For the last two years, Sylva commissioners have denied Sylva Pride’s request for the temporary road closure permits required for a parade, citing safety concerns and constraints on manpower. Commissioners Perry Matthews and Sam McGuire voted yes to the resolution, with the stipulation that Sylva Pride pay for half of the costs the county would incur from the parade, while Blitz Estrige provided the only no. In the discussion preceding the vote, commissioners weighed the messaging and the costs associated with the decision. (Commissioner Joe Waldrum and Mayor Pro Tem Brad Waldrop were not present at the meeting.)
“I think we have an opportunity here to show Sylva as a model of how mountain towns can handle disagreements, respect freedoms, protect our neighbors,” McGuire said. “I really do not want Sylva to be a cautionary tale of what not to do. I think we can be a model town here to show how welcoming and to all our neighbors show good government as well.”
Mayor Johnny Phillips said he wanted Sylva to be a welcoming town to everyone but thought Sylva Pride should pay for the cost associated with closing the street and paying staff to work the event. He cited town budgetary concerns regarding aging infrastructure and said the town should consider its needs first and wants second. Matthews added that in the conversation about taxpayer dollars, the board should consider that there are plenty of Sylva taxpayers who would like to see this parade approved.
Commissioners set the deadline for Sylva Pride to pay for its end of the parade costs by Aug. 20, 30 days before the parade date. Within two days, the organization met its fundraising goal of $2,000 and then some.
“The donations are still flowing in,” said Sylva Pride Board Member Paige LeBlanc. “Whether it’s $100, $50, $10, $5, the amount is not what’s important. It’s the fact that so many people are deciding to give and be generous right now. People want to be a part of this is what it seems like to me.”
LeBlanc said this year’s Pride will be a weekend-long celebration with music, drag queens, vendors, artists and more. She added that the board of commissioner’s vote to approve the parade permit was a much-needed win after two years of a parade-less Pride festival amid the politically regressive state of LGBTQ+ rights in the country.
After what LeBlanc said are recent attempts to deliberately exclude queer people from public spaces, the outpouring of love and support from the local community has been a welcomed demonstration of defiance against homophobia and transphobia.
“We deserve it as much as anyone else to love and celebrate and live fully in our community, which we have, after all, helped build to be better every day with our continued efforts,” she said. “Any community that welcomes its queer people benefits immeasurably from that, not just materially, but in terms of acknowledging the beautiful diversity of humanity and what it means to be alive and to be human.”
With donations still coming in, LeBlanc aims to expand Sylva Pride’s programming for years to come, offering more opportunities for community togetherness and collaboration. She said she wants to build hope.
More information about this year’s Sylva Pride Festival will be released soon.