The organizer of Henderson’s first Pride event believes it could push the town to be more inclusive and accepting of queer lifestyles.
“It makes me eager and excited to see what’s coming up,” said Cooper Beck, a 2023 Henderson County High School graduate who organized the event. “It’s a pretty big deal. It’s something that Henderson has long needed.”
Beck said he made the announcement of the event on Facebook on May 30, and in the time since, more than 400 people have responded—either interested in going or planning on attending. He said he expects anywhere from 250 to 300 people to show up.
It had been planned to take place at the Henderson County Public Library, but that was changed after the event on Facebook received more than 200 responses in the first week, he said. The library can only hold 150-plus people, he said, so he was lucky to receive an invite from Kristie Randolph to hold the event in the parking lot of the Chloe Randolph Organization on Washington Street.
The event, titled “Henderson Pride: Celebrating Local LGBTQIA+ History and Culture” on its Facebook page, will be from 3-7 p.m. Sunday.
Beck said there will be speakers, including Belle Townsend, a Henderson native and poet, who will also be selling copies of her poetry collections. Also speaking will be Mark Lansden, president of the Southern Indiana Pride Business Alliance, and Austin Vowels, a Henderson city commissioner, Beck said.
There will also be a drag show, live music and food trucks, he said.
Beck, who just finished his freshman year at Bellarmine University, currently works for the Decode Project helping young students from Louisville’s West End improve their reading skills, he said. He said he spends as much time in Henderson as possible, coming home most weekends.
Beck said he believes Henderson has a lot of promise with all the economic progress that’s been made in the past few years and feels that there will be more Pride events upcoming.
Getting the first Pride event off the ground, he said, has been a relief.
“We’re all kind of ready” and Henderson is “long overdue for this,” he said, adding he hopes this is the first step for a “new chapter of inclusivity and acceptance in Henderson.”
