Kansas holds First-ever Statewide Pride Event in Topeka
Article - 7 minute read
On Saturday, September 24, Kansas held its first-ever statewide Pride Event in Topeka sponsored by Visit Topeka and Downtown Topeka. The event was put on by Pride Kansas, a non-profit organization committed to visibility and supporting LGBTQ+ communities in Kansas.
Across the street from the State Capitol where the rally would start, members from the Westboro Baptist Church held signs in protest. Protestor Benaiah Phelps held a sign that said, ‘Repent or perish LK. 13:4-5.’
“The reason we’re out picketing… as you notice throughout these years, it’s becoming more and more normal for people to express their pride for their sins,” Phelps said. “Based off of God’s standard, the sins as He lays them out—that’s becoming so comfortable that it’s now worthy of praise to be proud of these sins. It’s directly contrary to God’s standard. Even labeling it ‘pride,’ because if you look through the scriptures, it never once mentions ‘pride’ in a positive light. It’s always mentioned as a terrible thing, such as in Proverbs where it says, ‘Pride cometh before contention and the haughty spirit before a fall.’ …Anytime you look up the word ‘pride’ in the Bible, you’re never going to see it in a context where it’s positive.”
The day started with a rally at 11 a.m. in front of the south stairs of the State Capitol where Joanna Becker introduced the four speakers including Topeka Mayor Mike Padilla, House Representative for District 30 Brandon Woodard (D), Stonewall Inn co-owner and gay rights activist Stacy Lentz, and drag queen Claire St. Claire.
A crowd of around 50 gathered in front of the Capitol to listen to the speakers who stood on the south steps to speak as the traditional pride flag and the inclusive pride flag were interposed between the crowd and speakers.
“Throughout my career and my adult life, I have worked for equality and inclusivity,” Mayor Padilla said. “It is important for me as a public servant—either as a police officer, city councilman, or now mayor—to make sure no one in the community is overlooked, left out, or not included…. Everyone has to be included in what we do as a city. It’s important to me to let people know, not just in Topeka but across the state of Kansas, this Capitol city is a place welcoming for everyone.... It’s important right now to pay attention to a lot of legislation that’s going on to restrict our freedoms and our ability to express ourselves. I encourage you, if you’re not already registered to vote, vote and vote with some intelligence. Don’t pay attention to those paths that lead you astray.”
The first openly LGBTQ member of the Kansas state legislature, along with State Representative Susan Ruiz, District 30 Representative Woodard spoke next.
“I was a young Kansan—14 years old in 2005—just a couple miles down the street watching our state legislature vote to ban same sex marriage, and later the voters of the state of Kansas put into the Constitution that I am to swear into oath every time that I get elected that marriage is between one man and one woman,” Representative Woodard said. “…I watched the state that I loved and knew as a lifelong Kansan get more extreme, but I didn’t believe that the people were more extreme. It was just the people that were being sent to this building. For eight years, I watched the administration that were sent to this building focus on attacking anyone that wasn’t wealthy and powerful and that included attacking the LGBTQ community. We watched a governor whose administration said that pride flags on the statehouse grounds were considered weapons, yet you could carry a concealed carry weapon into the building behind us. That made no sense.”
Representative Woodard also said that in 2018, things changed as Governor Laura Kelly got elected and signed an executive order reinstating unemployment protection of LGBT workers on her first day. This was one of the first things that Representative Woodard witnessed as a newly elected House member. He also said that since 2018, they had blocked every “anti-LGBT bill” from becoming law. This would include SB 208 and SB 484, both of which would keep transgender girls from playing in female sports. This, too, includes SB 55 which would prohibit transgender athletes from playing on sports teams that do not match their birth sex.
“We know this is going to be one of the most important elections,” Representative Woodard continued. “We hear that every year, right? But we are now constantly as a community under attack from politicians, from schoolboards, from city councils, to people running up and down the ballot. The fact that we have a candidate [Derek Schmidt (R)] running for governor who’s chosen to focus his campaign on bullying children is repugnant and disgusting and wrong. So, just like we did on August 2, people of Kansas said, ‘you are not going to take away our rights. You are not going to tell us what we can do with our bodies. And stop trying to shrink government down so small that it can fit into our bedrooms, our doctor’s offices, our classrooms, and everything else.”
Native Kansan, gay rights activist, and co-owner of the Stonewall Inn in New York City Stacy Lentz spoke next.
“Today, I want to talk about what you as individuals and allies of the community can do. You are gathered here, and what today means for a lot of people—they’re going to see themselves for the first time maybe out at a pride festival in Kansas. There could be another thirteen-year-old in a cornfield today who is saying to themselves, ‘my God, I’m not alone. There are other people like me. I got state representation now. I’ve got somebody else that sees me.’”
Lentz went on to talk about how “visibility saves lives,” claiming LGBTQ youth are four times more likely to commit suicide than their straight counterparts. She also spoke on the importance of allyship from straight cisgender supporters.
“You got to vote,” Lentz said. “You absolutely have to vote. There were 200 anti-LGBTQ laws introduced at state levels all across the country…. They are targeting, typically, trans and nonbinary and LGBTQ youth. Whether it’s sports or whether it’s kind of frankly anything. Adoption even. These laws are crazy and they can only be stopped at a local, state level.”
Lentz continued by informing the crowd of their ability to keep their “rights” protected by voting at the state level. She also spoke on how the crowd can always work to create “safe and inclusive spaces” wherever they are.
“We’ve launched the Safe Spaces certification program because we consider Stonewall one of the original safe spaces for our community,” Lentz said. “Where we’re reaching out to businesses, venues, large restaurants, bars, we’re even getting the New York City Marathon next week to become an LGBTQ Stonewall Safe Space.”
She encouraged people to look around and ask themselves who the “most marginalized person” is to ensure they feel safe. She spoke about her “geographic privilege” living in New York as a gay person. She also pointed out her “White and cisgender privilege,” and the importance of ensuring more “marginalized” groups feel included.
St. Claire finished the rally with some final words about how “pride is alive and well in Kansas,” before leading those who gathered for the rally in a march from the State Capitol to Evergy Plaza with a quick stop at The Vintage Fox to meet and greet with the business owner. St. Claire led the march while carrying the traditional pride flag as a little girl helped her by holding the inclusive pride flag.
The pride event went from noon to 5 p.m. with live music by Ryan Manuel, Groovy Girl DJ, Moneisha Williams, and Oceanside Hotels. A food truck, face painting, and a handful of other vendors were at the event.
“It’s really cool that Kansas is doing this now as a state,” event attendee Kira Pearce said. “There’s always been little local ones but as a state we’re coming together and trying to show our pride because I think a lot of people think of the Midwest as not an accepting place, and I think it’s wonderful that we’re trying to be a more accepting place.”
“The issue of human sexuality is kind of a hot-button issue in the United Methodist Church’s denomination right now, but I believe God loves us regardless of anything that we do or anything that we are,” Rev. Dr. Annie Ricker said. “We’re only a child of God and we’re always a child of God. So, I’m here because people I love identify as LGBTQ. I’m here because people I don’t know identify as LGBTQ and God loves them. So, I’m here to let people know that there are Christians who love them because God loves them.”
To close out the evening, at 9 p.m. that night a sold out drag show was held at Topeka Performing Arts Center and hosted by Claire St. Claire. Other performing drag queens included Jeni Tonic, Jello Tin Shot, Billie Blossom, Heather Fellas, The Baddest, and Cherry Love Darling.
Perhaps, being the first one, it will grow???