After a heated debate at a standing-room-only Wellsville Village Council meeting in June, a Pride event in Columbiana County will take place Saturday.
Organizers for the Columbiana County Pride Committee believe the event is the first of its kind in the rural county whose residents are mostly conservative.
Republicans swept all races in last November, according to the county board of elections. Nearly 72% of voters there cast ballots for Republican former President Donald J. Trump in 2020.
Across the country, political races from the local to the national level have been mired in culture wars over the LGBTQ+ community, with Republican presidential candidates embracing anti-LGBTQ+ policies on the stump. Local drag shows in Northeast Ohio have faced intense backlash, harassment and protests.
"LGBTQ+ people in this area have no resources, and the only thing that they can see of their community is from Hollywood or an hour and a half away," organizer Joey Shilot said. "So we just thought it was really important to make it known that the LGBT community is supported here."
The Columbiana County Pride event gained a lot of attention after receiving pushback at a Wellsville Village Council meeting, Shilot said. Some residents wanted the village to shut the event down and asked the local government to create legislation to ban children from attending drag shows, which the mayor declined to do, village officials confirmed.
Some residents were opposed to a drag show included in the event that allowed children to attend, Mayor Bob Boley said. There will be a drag show appropriate for families and another for audiences 18 and over, according to organizers.
"Churches went a little wild hearing the word 'kids,'" Boley said.
The village government does not have the power to shut down the event because that would infringe on organizers' first amendment rights, Boley said. But it was important that both sides be allowed to discuss the event during a village council meeting in June.
“During the whole entire craziness of the city council and all that, we have gained an extreme amount of support," Shilot said, "so we are preparing for an overwhelming amount of people.”
Shilot hopes the event, which will take place at the Wellsville Alumni Center, provides representation and a safe space for queer people living in Columbiana County, he said.
“When we started this, our entire game plan was not to get a bunch of people there, it was just to make one person feel that they have a community at home," Shilot said. "I think we have already done that.”
Even with all the support, the committee is planning for protesters and has spent most of the community-funded budget on private security.
"We have decided that we are going to expect the worst and be thankful for the best," Shilot said.
The event will include programming for families, local vendors and resources. Support from local vendors and sponsors has been overwhelming, Shilot said.
"We will have trans and queer 101 presentations where we just teach the community who we are and what we do," Shilot said, "and how they can respect other family members who do identify as queer or trans."
