Safety concerns have forced organizers of the Fall March and Festival to relocate the event.
Upstate Pride South Carolina hosts the festival that attracts thousands of people to downtown Spartanburg each year. Because of email threats that have ranged from harassment to physical harm, the festival on Nov. 2 will move from West Broad and South Spring streets to Barnet Park, said executive director Caroline Caldwell.
“People can’t scare us away; Pride is a revolution. People have been trying to ‘other’ us, people have been trying to scare us since the dawn of time, and we’re still here,” said Caldwell of the non-profit LGBTQ+ advocacy, education, and networking organization. “Not only are we still here, we’re thriving.”
The festival is in its 15th year.
Last year, protestors picketed the festival, causing safety concerns among organizers and Spartanburg officials which prompted the move to the park.
“We had a fear that it might’ve been canceled, but that was never on the city’s radar. The city of Spartanburg said let’s figure out how to keep you safe and make sure you maintain a presence that is not only integral to the community but also important to us,” Caldwell said.
Jaime Fivecoat, a trans member of Upstate Pride’s board of directors, was targeted in an email where a man threatened to “shoot her in the head.” Fivecoat reported the threat to law enforcement and the FBI stepped in.
“It’s disheartening, and at the same time, it emphasizes the need for me to continue doing the work that we do,” the 69-year-old Fivecoat said. “All we want to do is live our lives, our most authentic selves, and there’s a lot of people who don’t like that.”
FBI spokesperson Kevin Wheeler said the man, who was not identified, was contacted, but no charges were filed.
“I feel sad with people that do that stuff, have that much hate in their mind, and feel that they need to say things and do things like that to create fear in the world,” Fivecoat said.
More: Upstate SC Pride 2023
No hate crime law in S.C.
South Carolina and Wyoming are the only two states in the nation without a statewide hate crime law. However, several South Carolina cities and municipalities, including Greenville, have hate crime ordinances.
“We felt very saddened, but not fearful, because there may not be a hate statute in South Carolina, but there’s one federally,” Caldwell said.
Greenville was the second city in the state to enact a hate crime law. Charleston was the first. Since then, Clemson, Chester, Bluffton, Mount Pleasant, Florence, and Myrtle Beach have signed similar ordinances. North Charleston and Summerville signed hate crime laws earlier this year.
Despite the lack of legislation, Caldwell encouraged people not to let hate get in the way of being themselves.
“The reality is standing your authentic truth; that is our message and don’t let anybody make you feel ashamed about that. We want everyone in our community to know that they have value, that they are worthy, and that no one can change that. You don’t owe anyone any explanation for how you show up, period,” Caldwell said.
More: Search and destroy mission for yellow-legged hornet: Secondary nests found in SC for 1st time
Facing discrimination
Caldwell and Fivecoat said they’ve had to regularly deal with hate messages and despite the bigotry, it has helped them grow stronger.
Hate creates resilience, Caldwell said.
“The hate’s been real for years. It’s been real since Stonewall, Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and the two women of color who started the Pride movement. Pride never started as a celebration, Pride was a rebellion, and it still is today. It provides us safe space and the opportunity to get together,” Caldwell said.
Fivecoat said that experience only made her tougher and resilient. She said that seeing the support of people around the LGBTQ+ community only reaffirmed her commitment to helping continue the work of Upstate Pride.
“I actually feel stronger for having gone through this knowing that there are people out there that really do care and that are willing to confront it and are working to put a stop to this type of stuff,” Fivecoat said.
Fivecoat said despite things getting better, there’s still more work to do.
“We’re not going to stand up for this and slowly but surely, things are changing,” Fivecoat said. “I don’t want the people of today, whether they’re trans, gay, lesbian, bi, or non-binary, I don’t want them to have to live the way I lived for the first 60 years of my life.”
Source link : http://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss&aid=&tid=66ca6326e10b42978e022cbe371d53a6&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.usatoday.com%2Fstory%2Fnews%2Fcrime%2F2024%2F08%2F22%2Fupstate-pride-moves-festival-location-over-security-concerns%2F74900946007%2F&c=16238308617156860740&mkt=en-us
Author :
Publish date : 2024-08-22 05:45:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.