Floyd PRIDE 2021
-The following first appeared in The Floyd Press on October 7, 2021.
Attendance grew throughout the afternoon at Saturday’s annual PFLAG PRIDE celebration. The free public event, held for the first time at the Floyd EcoVillage, featured live music, vending booths, yoga, guided meditation and drag show entertainment.
Emil Morris, an outreach worker with the Radford Woman’s Resource Center made buttons bearing various pronouns for attendees who wanted to wear them. Morris said the Center, established in 1977, works with men as well as women and provides victim services, anti-violence programs and an Inclusion Council for nurses, teachers, advocates and community partners.
SONG (Southerners on New Ground), a group from Richmond that builds coalitions and alliances with people of color, immigrants, working class and LGBTQ communities, was on hand to provide support and information. Debbie Snellings (above left), a candidate for School Board in the Courthouse district, spoke with some LGBTQ Floyd public school students at the event in an effort to hear their school experiences and learn what they need.
There was a ColorStreet nail design booth and an author’s table featuring activist/poet Mara Robbins and her new book Seeing Red, a personal account of the legal and physical struggles to protect watersheds, plants, animals and homes of those caught in the path of a fracked gas pipeline crossing the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.
Blue Mountain School provided a rainbow streamer activity for the young crowd. The Valentine family were among those who decked out in rainbow colors and gear for the occasion.
Live music was provided at the gazebo stage on the EcoVillage pond by Ash Devine and Virginia Hollow, whose singer/songwriter Carrie Hinkley performed original songs, including a touching one, written for her father, about missing loved ones who have passed.
PFLAG president and event organizer Christina Alba presented staff members from Jessie Peterman Library with a $250 donation to purchase LGBTQ friendly and inclusive books and materials. The library had a booth on site with books to check-out that were purchased with last year’s donation.
Alba, who wore a “Love is Love” T-shirt, said the Pride event was a safe space. The crowd applauded when she told attendees, “We love you and we accept everyone as they are.”
Attendance was at its height for the Drag Show. Attendees filled the EcoVillage’s graded seating in the grass and applauded the dramatic costumed performers who danced and lip synced popular songs. ___________Colleen Redman
