Dear Editor:
We recently wrapped up the month that many refer to as Pride Month and I want to recount some of the events that not only took place in Henderson County in June, but were also sponsored and promoted by entities within the county like Field & Main, Henderson Brewing Company, The Henderson Tourist Commission and others. Then I would like to ask all Hendersonians a question.
The major event of the month was a pride festival that took place in Central Park, with the main stage directly across from the County Judicial Center. I watched footage of this event posted on social media by both the hosting organization, Henderson KY Pride, and others in attendance. I want to be sure that the people of Henderson are aware of what exactly took place on that Saturday evening. I do not have the space to recount all of the debauchery from the night, but I would like to point to a couple of things:
First, was of a man dressed as a hyper-sexualized caricature of a woman (as just about every entertainer was dressed) who was dancing in the street, through the crowd. This man specifically danced for a very young child, perhaps of only 3 or 4 years old. The small girl held a rainbow flag and handed the scantily clad man a dollar bill.
Over the course of the evening, several men dressed in similar garb, clearly meant to mock the female sex (my gender is not a costume by the way), danced on stage while the crowd cheered.
Finally, the headliner of the evening, stage-name Jaida Essence Hall, took the stage and as Hall spoke to onlookers made up of families and young children, proceeded to address the crowd wherein just about every other word from Hall’s mouth was the f-word. Henderson Pride initially posted video of this, but it seems they quickly removed it, perhaps hoping that Hendersonians wouldn’t see or know.
But, as if this event was not bad enough, there was another pride-promoted event earlier in June that was perhaps even more debauched: a “Drag Brunch” hosted by Frenchman and Farmer in Robards. This event showcased yet again, several men dressed as hyper-sexualized caricatures of women including fake breasts larger than one man’s own head. There was also a man dressed as a sexy pope and, dare I even say the words, a sexy Jesus. These were clear demonstrations of mockery and even more than that: blasphemy. They too danced for money and cheers while the crowd gladly, and some clearly uncomfortably, complied. This transaction of money for sexual performances is characteristic of pride events.
What was made crystal clear from these “performances” is that they have a very obvious intention of mockery: mocking women, mocking the pope, mocking Jesus, and therefore mocking the Christian religion and Christians themselves.
If there is any question about what I have described, video and photographs of these events are readily available on Henderson Pride’s Instagram page along with several of the social media pages of the men who traveled here from other places to spread their lewdness to our community.
And so, with all of this plainly explained and described, I’d like to pose a question to all Hendersonians:
Is this what Henderson stands for? Is this what we want to be known as not only accepting, but promoting and celebrating? Strange men, sensually dressed, dancing for children? Profane men mocking women, mocking Christianity, blaspheming Jesus, and deriding tradition?
I understand that the argument from Henderson Pride for these types of events is that there would be love and acceptance. But there are things that absolutely should not be accepted and that should actually be overtly rejected. We as a community, as a city, as a county need to be willing to recognize depravity and debauchery and draw clear lines that lovingly say, “No. Not in my town.” This isn’t out of malice or hatred. On the contrary, it’s because we love what is good and true and beautiful and we want to see those things protected and promoted. We recognize wrong from right and we want to protect children, families and tradition.
Henderson has a decision to make moving forward: Will we continue to allow this debauchery to find its home here and flourish? Or will we put an end to it before it gets worse?
Eliza Bruce
Henderson
