by Arriana Williams
VALDOSTA, Ga. – The 10th Annual South Georgia Pride Festival was held in Valdosta at John W. Saunders Memorial Park that gave festival goers food, information, and a live show.
This festival stood as the end to Pride Week for the South Georgia and North Florida area. Although the event stood as a light-hearted, family friendly festival, it was not sheltered from the local non-supporters.
The park where the event was hosted was filled with a variety of booths that ranged from local church organizations showing support, clubs from Valdosta State University, healthcare organizations offering services and many more; Mayoral candidate JD Rice and his family were even in attendance.
Lowndes County Democrats set up shop as a place where people could get information on the upcoming elections and also info on how to register to vote.
Among the services for public health information the Lowndes County Department of Health offered free testing for Hepatitis A and also HIV. With Georgia having an HIV mortality rate at nearly double of the national rate, booths like the ones previously mentioned and those giving information on these facts and programs that help to prevent the spread like PreP are programs that are needed and very helpful.
No festival of any kind is complete without an area dedicated to body paint and VSU’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) stood that front with their face painting booth. GSA serves as a safe space for students to speak about LGBTQ+ issues, events, and more. The club also hosts several events on campus including the Night of Pride, Pride Prom, and Drag Delight.
VSU’s Department of Social work was also in attendance discussing the role that their career field plays in society as well as the help that is offered. Other booths such as the Area Agency on Aging, T-Mobile, and countless vendors were in attendance.
Around noon was when the performances kicked off. The hostess of the event was none other than talented Vashai Avionce. Avionce is well known and highly revered not only in the LGTBQ+ community but also in her city of Tallahassee. She was named one of the 25 Women You Need to Know for 2019 for advocating street outreach for Capital City Youth Services, a drop-in center where she works on Dunn Street that aids a revolving door of about 150 at-risk youth. Avionce is no stranger to hosting events, she has been the hostess for FSU’s Drag Show, Drag Queen Bingo and Tallahassee Pridefest.
There were performances by the 2019 Mr. and Miss South Georgia Pride, Romallus Giovanni and Samantha Fox, Alexandria, Da’Raiyah Avionce, Ronnie Rowdy, Jessa Belle, and more.
Each member of the line-up gave a breathtaking performance, but one performer that stood out and shed light on recent events that have been occurring in the LGBTQ+ community was Ravion Starr Alexandria St. James. St. James opened her performance with a voice over of a newscast speaking on a few of the transwomen deaths that have taken place this year. As of this month that number sits at 18 known transwomen that have been murdered this year (HRC). St James went on to give an emotional performance of Destiny’s Child’s “Stand Up For Love.”
Unfortunately, the festival did attract the attention of those who weren’t so enthusiastic about the family-friendly event. Prior to the event a Valdosta couple reported that their home has been constantly vandalized. Clay Bass and Brian Meeks say that people steal the flags that decorate their yard, burn the flags, and also throw trash in their yard.
“Figured we’d spread the love and maybe be a beacon for our community and help the ones that are afraid to come out or are fearful of what might happen if they do with the violence and the hate crimes,” said Bass. “We just figured we’d share it and let love be love.” (WTXL)
The couple continues to proudly hang their flags, including those that are burnt.
The day of the Pride Festival, two signs in a Valdosta neighborhood were defaced with a slur against those of the LGBTQ+ community.
Pearl Hart, a member of the neighborhood says that seeing the defaced sign made her feel, “Embarrassed, and more motivated than ever to support people’s right to live free from this sort of harassment.”
The signs have since been covered and the authorities contacted. As of September 2019, Georgia remains a state with no hate crime laws. (APN)
