What organizers say will be the city’s first-ever LGBTQ Pride event is set to take place in Lebanon on June 26. The event intends to highlight the community’s visibility and show that the city has kept up with prevailing national cultural trends.
“Lebanon should have had one for years,” said Reese Sweigart, a member of the LGBTQ community who is the manager, talent scout, booking agent and sound engineer for The Church, a popular music venue and art gallery in Lebanon where the event is set to be held. “This is about equality and community and bringing people together.”
Officially titled Lebanon’s Got Pride, the all-day event is being organized by a number of individuals associated with Lebanon’s drag scene and progressive community.
Asked why it had taken so long for Lebanon to hold a Pride event, Sweigart attributed it to the area’s cultural and political conservatism and the decline in the city’s entertainment industry over the past decades. “It’s still a very Bible Belt-type community,” she said.
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The event, situated at 39 S. 8th St., begins at 11 a.m. and has four major components: a potluck; a dance party; a DJ, scheduled for three hours between 1 and 4 p.m.; and finally, a drag show with about 10 or 11 performers, set to begin at 7 p.m. with a $10 charge. Aside from the show, all other parts are free to attend.
“It’s basically going to be a day-long party,” said Scott Church, owner of The Church.
Although intended to celebrate the LGBTQ community, a key aim is to reach out to the general public. “I want this to be an open and welcoming event, not just for the LGBT crowd, but for everyone else to be exposed to it,” Church said.
Even though she doesn’t exactly expect conservative local politicians to show up – although she said anyone is welcome, as long as they are respectful – Sweigart hopes some members of the city government will consider attending to address and support the community.
Inspiration for the event came from Whitley Nycole DeAire’, who has been a drag performer in Lebanon for more than a decade. DeAire’ said they had been planning an event like this going back three years, but as they do not live in Lebanon, they said they could only get road closures and other preparations approved if someone in town agreed to host it. “I needed someone to back me, and Scott said ‘let’s do it.'”
At 56 years old, DeAire,’ who grew up in Tennessee after being born in Chicago, said the environment for LGBTQ people in Lebanon is dramatically better than things were when they were younger. “This isn’t the late 60s anymore,” they said. “This is 2021. People need to actually see that there are LGBTQIA people around.”
LGBTQ people and causes have made some public advances in Lebanon in recent years. An anti-discrimination resolution was advanced in 2018, which included sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. In 2014, Rev. Frank Schaefer, pastor of Zion United Methodist Church of Iona, was reinstated after being defrocked, as a result of him officiating at his gay son’s wedding, and became a minor national celebrity.
Lebanon Valley College in Annville has also flown the gay pride flag and has celebrated gender and sexual diversity through a variety of initiatives. But “doing something on a college campus in Annville isn’t exactly a statement by the city of Lebanon saying we’re a welcoming community,” Church noted.
Alongside many enthusiastic responses, a spout of negative commentary has poured down upon organizers since the announcement of the event in community Facebook groups from residents with anti-LGBTQ sentiments. Sweigart expects more backlash over the event as awareness increases, but said that the people trying to find problems with the event are the types who would try to find problems in others regardless.
Church added that the types of comments made by such individuals don’t represent anywhere near the majority of the community anymore.
In a potential boon to attendance, the event is coming as the Pride Festival of Central PA has been canceled a second time due to the coronavirus.
Church said mask-wearing and social distancing are recommended at the Lebanon event, and all recommendations and restrictions related to the coronavirus will be followed. Currently, the CDC does not recommend masking indoors among vaccinated people. He added that he expects 100-150 people to show up this year, but organizers view it as establishing the basis for a stronger presence in coming years.
“We still need this one to display to the city that this is a real thing. And then next year, it’s no-holds-barred.” Sweigart said she hopes in the future, vendors, food trucks, and local businesses can be part of the event.
DeAire’ believes the event will help change dynamics further toward acceptance of LGBTQ people in the community. ‘It’s going to show that we’re here, we’re not going anywhere. We’re here to stay.”
Hal Conte is a quality of life and Central Pennsylvania issues reporter for the Lebanon Daily News. You can find him on Twitter at @conte_hal.
