FRANKLIN, Tenn. (WTVF) — Franklin Pride is officially a go after a narrow 5-4 vote approving the festival's permit.
There were probably three to four hundred people according to our team's count. More than 100 people on both sides signed up to speak.
"We all know that the eyes of the world are waiting to see what you decide. Will Franklin continue to be a community of welcome? Or forever be known as a city of discrimination," one attendee said.
This will be Franklin's third Pride festival. This time around, there are allegations that drag artists performed in a sexual nature in front of kids in previous years. That was not the case according to the president of Franklin Pride.
"I hear words like family-friendly, innocent, fun -- and that disturbs me, as last year, that was not the case. What's innocent about a fully-grown man, half-dressed in suggestive, prosthetics... putting on a show for children," another attendee said.
According to city documents, the organizer said they would not have a drag performance. They also offered to rent the whole park.
Mayor Ken Moore voted in favor of approving the festival, but it came with a threat.
"I consider that I'm giving you a lifeline for this event. And here's the short line of it now: I'm gonna work to make sure if you violate the trust that we're placing in you right now, that I will work as hard as I work every single day to make sure that event never happens in Franklin again," Moore said.
Franklin Pride is set for June 3rd at Harlinsdale Farm. There was also a community decency resolution essentially tied to the pride festival, but that was deferred during the meeting to May.
