Press release from Hendersonville Pride:
The community is invited to a mayoral proclamation by Mayor Barbara Volk of Hendersonville at City Hall, 145 Fifth Avenue East, Hendersonville, NC 28792, on Thursday, June 6, at 5:45 p.m., declaring Saturday, June 15, 2019, Hendersonville Pride Day, the first of its kind in Henderson County. Hendersonville Pride Day will be a day of commemoration; of food, fun, and festivities; and a day for the entire community to celebrate our inclusivity and diversity.
This year is the 50th anniversary of Stonewall, which occurred on June 28, 1969, and is considered by historians to be the start of the modern Gay Rights Movement. A year after Stonewall, on June 28, 1970, the first Gay Pride Marches were held in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago. This year’s Hendersonville Pride Day will coincide with Stonewall 50/World Pride during the month of June, with Pride events all over the world commemorating Stonewall and celebrating LGBTQ Pride. It is anticipated that Stonewall 50/World Pride will be the largest International celebration of LGBTQ Pride ever in history.
Movie Night
Kicking off the commemoration and celebration in Hendersonville will be a Movie Night on the evening of Friday, June 14, at 7 p.m. A 120-minute film about Stonewall will be shown, “Stonewall Uprising,” an American Experience/PBS presentation, followed by open discussion and fellowship in this new venue. The event will take place at The Center for Arts and Inspiration, 125 South Main Street, Hendersonville, NC 28792. Seating is first come first served. FREE!
Picnic in the Park
Starting Saturday’s festivities will be a Picnic in the Park (Family Friendly Potluck) at the Patton Park Pavilion from 12 to 2 p.m., including games for kids. You are encouraged to bring a dish or beverage to share. Hamburgers with the fixins will be available, and “old school” music will keep your feet moving. Beginning at 2 p.m., we will have inspirational speakers Mark Stanley (Trinity Presbyterian), Karla Miller (First Congregational), and Joan Saniuk (MCC Sacred Journey), who will remind us why this anniversary of Stonewall is so important.
Atlanta Gay Men’s Chorus
At 3:30 p.m. and again at 7:00 p.m., The Atlanta Gay Men’s Chorus will present their Stonewall Concert at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 900 Blythe Street, Hendersonville, NC 28791. This initial Roger Smith Concert is sponsored by First Congregational Church (UCC), Hendersonville. Established in 2019, The Roger Smith Concerts are founded on a commitment to the community and to a higher purpose—not only music, but music that can bring diverse peoples together. This concert is presented free of charge to all in the community, Henderson County NC, and beyond. Due to limited seating, tickets are required and can be obtained beginning May 16 online at www.fcchendersonville.org/upcomingevent. Doors will open at 3 p.m. for the afternoon performance, and at 6 p.m. for the evening performance. UPDATE: The show at 7:00 p.m. has already sold out!
Be a part of this historic occasion both locally and worldwide by showing your support and PRIDE by attending one or all of these special events here in Hendersonville!
It is not okay to parade sin
Well, sin is paraded 24/7 all over the World; always has been, and always will be. I suggest you get used to it. This celebration is not a parade and it’s not a sin. It’s about a group of people who have been demonized by a religion and society for a very long time, and they have decided to be proud of who they were created to be in this lifetime, and it’s wrong for you or anyone else to question their right to be treated fairly in our society.
That’s just ridio. I really don’t care what kind of sex anyone has, does it need to be paraded? Do what you want I don’t need to know and have no idea why a particular variant of sex calls for pride.
Hendersonville is making two mistakes. One our city is exposing our community to a lifestyle that leads to moral decline and a deviant lifestyle that will eventually lead them to devalue their own life as well as others. Second it offends the vast majority of our citizens as well as dishonors God’s Word.
I have said for sixteen years that our town is a pandering one, unsure of our dentity and not clear on what we want to be when we grow up. The powers that be seen to jump at he loudest voice or biggest pocketbook. It looks like a great town, all cute and quaint, but like the Emporer’s New Clothes, we want to pretend everything is cool while true “diversity” is disappearing. Now we are going to compete with Asheville and try to “look” like a diverse community, while our old people, our farmers, our poor people and longtime residents struggle to keep their heads above water. Diversity has become a code word for a certain kind of lifestyle. This looks “cool,” but I wonder what the net effect will be. Along with our new hotel, to compete with Asheville. I saw it in San Francisco, I saw it in Oregon. I came home and found my people under the same assault of money and noise. “Pride” indeed.
And please don’t misunderstand. I have many gay friends I love dearly. But I feel the same way about
Christians on the street corner with signs about sodomy! What kind of conversation are we going to have in this town? Everyone should feel welcome, yes. But in all fairness, the “squeakiest wheels get greased in this (once small) town. We do not have to be the Asheville overflow. We can create an environment where there is true diversity–economic, social, political.
Mayor Volk has demonstrated over an over her lack of ability to do anything right. H’villes, roads are falling apart, city services are shoddy, city planning is a map on a dart board of chances, and now this debacle. This is not what this community is about, and glorification of what has been a perversion for 10,000 years of recorded history, and will be until the end of time, is more proof of her idiocy and disrespect for the citizens of Henderson County. She should be ordered to resign her position immediately and apologize for disgracing the citizens of this county.