On Saturday, Oct. 25, members and allies of the LGBTQ+ community gathered in Circus Square Park for this year’s Bowling Green Pride Festival, organized by the Bowling Green Fairness Campaign.
According to their Facebook page, the Bowling Green Fairness Campaign is a local group that fights for LGBTQ+ rights. This was their ninth annual Pride Festival in Bowling Green.
Many LGBTQ+ business owners attended the festival. Craig Lonas, owner of the Core Element yoga studio, said his tent offered lessons and sold products created by his fellow teachers.
“The classes are gonna be free for anyone that’s here at Pride,” Lonas said.
Lonas said his studio focuses on inclusivity, which he believes is rare in many yoga circles.
“A lot of yoga studios still use language that is reductive or exclusionary,” Lonas said. “So, I teach a mix of traditionally feminine and masculine movements to make a more affirming practice for people.”
Lonas said he believes yoga is “queer” at its core, despite attempts to homogenize the practice for mass appeal in recent years.
“Yoga itself encourages a dance between the masculine and feminine as we know them,” Lonas said. “Queerness is embedded into a lot of the movement, but over the years it’s been pushed out to be more digestible to a straight audience.”
Lonas said events like the festival are important for all queer people, but especially the most vulnerable.
“So many people end up surrounded by those who vote against their safety and best interests,” Lonas said. “Pride creates an opportunity to be seen and validated as a queer person, and to support others in our community.”
Near the park’s edge stood the Pink Pony Mobile Bar, headed by co-owner Tammy McMillin. McMillan said that she and her daughter created the vending vehicle by renovating an old horse trailer.
“We saw it on Facebook Marketplace about a year and a half ago,” McMillin said. “We bought it, brought it home and totally gutted it with my son’s help.”
McMillin said the mobile bar caters to events across Kentucky and Tennessee. For the festival, they served mocktails instead of alcohol, due to its younger demographic. She said her decision to participate in the festival came from a place of support.
“There’s too much hate in the world, but it doesn’t have to be that way,” McMillin said. “That’s why on our menu it says, ‘Love is served here.’”
One of the event’s younger attendants was Constance Bratton, a Bowling Green native who wore a futuristic helmet inspired by the “Tron” film series. Bratton said that the festival offered a sense of belonging, unlike most of their relatives.
“My family has berated me in public and at work about being gay and nonbinary,” Bratton said. “Seeing how happy, open and supportive everyone is here makes me feel more welcome.”
Bratton said this was their third time attending the festival. Bratton also said their mother’s presence made them feel even more supported this year.
“My mother is running the NAMI mental health booth,” Bratton said. “With her here, I have a support group.”
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) was one of several health organizations represented at the event.
The festival featured multiple performances, including Catty Wampus, a four person band formed in Bowling Green two years ago. Jacob McPeak, the guitarist of the group, said Saturday marked Catty Wampus’ first time performing in Bowling Green.
McPeak said the band was enthusiastic about playing the festival once their drummer, Fynn Thomas, suggested it.
“We all wanted to play Pride,” McPeak said. “This is a good thing for the community, and I want to be a part of it.”
McPeak said that while this was the band’s first time performing in the festival, it was not his first time attending.
“I was at the first one in 2017,” McPeak said. “I promote love and acceptance as my personal ideology.”
