Park House Kitchen and Bar owner Alma Sanchez and co-organizers hosted the inaugural Siloam Springs Pride event Saturday from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m. at Park House. The event was created to acknowledge local lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LBGT) citizens and the "people around them who love them," Sanchez said.
"They exist here and they stay in hiding, it feels like, during the day," Sanchez said. "I wanted to address why. Something needed to be done, whether it was small scale or big scale."
The event began with an opening prayer by Grace Episcopal Church Rector Stan McKinnon and continued with yard games, a T-shirt tie-dying station, a drag show and ended with an outdoor dance party.
The featured speaker, Ruth Coker Burks, spoke of the importance of taking care of yourself and others.
"We have to love each other where you are today, not where we're going to be," Burks said.
Burks was selected to speak because of the work she did with people who contracted HIV and AIDS during the 1980s and 1990s. Co-organizer Patty Johnson introduced Burks as one of her personal heroes and described her as an "angel" for staying with dying AIDS patients when family or friends were not by their bedside.
Johnson, the leader for the Arkansas chapter of Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, also stressed the importance of a strong community.
"I have friends that are over there [in Siloam Springs] that are drag queens but they feel like they can't be out in their own hometowns," Johnson said. "That's ridiculous. Everyone should be able to be who they are where they live. It's important to make sure those folks have a voice."
Michael Guinn, co-organizer and Siloam Springs resident, said co-organizing the event was something he "couldn't say no to."
"I think [the event] is important because Siloam hasn't always been as diverse as it could be. As the years have gone by, we've gotten more diversity in this town, not just with the LGBT community but all over. Events like this are important because people need to be seen and heard and they need to know they have community in Siloam. They don't have to leave Siloam to find people like them."
Sanchez hopes the event will grow in its second year to include a parade.
Organizers estimate at least 450 people attended all events.
A portion of the proceeds from Park House business sales Saturday went toward establishing a local PFLAG chapter, Sanchez said. PFLAG is formerly known as Parents and Friends of Lesbians And Gays but now recognizes itself as "the extended family of the LGBT community," according to the organization's website.
Establishing a chapter costs $150. Sanchez said the proceeds were budgeted to establish the chapter and create a fund for future events.
Members from the Arkansas Human Rights Campaign chapter and the Northwest Arkansas Center for Equality were also at the event with an information booth.
General News on 07/03/2019