Two LGBTQ Pride organizations in Florida are canceling their annual June events, and the Department of Defense is putting an end to a scheduled drag show on an Air Force Base in Nevada.

In the Nashville suburb of Franklin, Tenn., the mayor broke a tie vote in April to grant a city permit to allow an annual Pride event to take place despite fierce opposition.

But in conservative Alabama, none of 40 or so organized Pride events scheduled this month face cancellation despite some pockets of criticism occurring in recent weeks.

City officials reached in a handful of cities hosting events say they have received minimal, if any, complaints leading up to National Pride Month, which is always held in June.

Fairhope reaction

The loudest of complaints appear to be occurring in Fairhope, where a group of residents spoke out against the second annual “Color Fairhope with Pride” event Saturday near the city’s iconic pier.

“There is a good reason to think that what is happening legislatively is driving more interest to the local levels,” said Corey Harvard, executive director of Prism United, which is hosting Pride events in Mobile and Fairhope this month. “It’s not something we’ve seen in the better part of the five years we’ve operated and in the seven years of doing LGBTQ youth programming.

The event will go on as scheduled, but a city council member confirmed that a rally opposing the LGBTQ community’s function will occur simultaneously.

Some of those opponents showed up at a recent Fairhope City Council meeting and criticized the city for not stopping the gathering or a drag queen brunch that will be held Sunday at a private venue.

Residents who spoke at the council’s May 22 meeting blasted the Pride events as “lewd” and geared toward “grooming children.” Another speaker said that one of the council members should “do a Bud Light commercial,” in reference to ongoing conservative criticism directed at Anheuser Busch over a partnership with a transgender influencer.

Fairhope Mayor Sherry Sullivan said that Prism United paid for off-duty officers to work their event, and that no march was planned to be held through the city.

She said she is getting a mix of calls from people complaining about the Pride event, and from those who are supporters.

“They have a right to peaceful assembly,” said longtime Fairhope City Councilman Jack Burrell. “It’s a constitutional right. There are a lot of organizations people don’t agree with. But it’s not illegal. I think people need to be very careful on trampling on these people’s rights. It might be their groups that are targeted next. It’s not American to do that.”

Reactions elsewhere

No other city is getting similar backlash, at least not as public as Fairhope.

In Auburn, Mayor Gary Fuller says he’s gotten some calls concerned about a Pride on the Plains event that includes a short march from City Hall to the Lee County Courthouse. But, he noted, it’s the same event held as in any other year.

Decatur Mayor Tab Bowling said he has received only one text message – from a local minister – about the annual River City Pride event at a public park in the city’s historic downtown.

And city officials and event organizers in Florence say they have not gotten complaints ahead of a June 10 event at a downtown park.

Josh Coleman, president of Central Alabama Pride, said the 45th annual event in Birmingham on June 10-11, will draw the typical “one to two protesters” during the parade.

“We always expect that and plan for it,” Coleman said.

He said that roughly 10,000 people attended last year’s parade, making it likely the largest in the state. He expects this year’s parade, which occurs June 10, to draw an even bigger crowd.

Mobile ArtWalk

In Mobile on Tuesday, resident Cathy Odom raised concerns before the City Council about a June 9 LODA ArtWalk, Pride parade and Drag show at Cathedral Square.

She urged the council to have the drag show take place inside a venue and before an adult crowd.

Councilman Ben Reynolds agreed. “I don’t think the government should play a role in the advertisement in the protected category of age, sex, or national origin,” he said. “If the government is making these decisions on who they will sponsor and not sponsor, it’s essentially (pitting) one group against another. We generally get along if the government generally stays out of it.”

A city spokesman, in an email, said that Mobile’s Parks and Recreation Department sponsors ArtWalk, and that the city’s staff sets a theme each month “but that many individual activities during ArtWalk are organized/sponsored by third-party organizations.”

Jason Johnson, the city spokesman, pointed to several examples including the November ArtWalk’s theme based on Native American Heritage Month, but that one of the key features of the event was a showcase by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians.

Similarly, he said, the city’s Parks and Recreation Department set the June ArtWalk to coincide with National Pride Month, but that the drag show at Cathedral Square is not being organized nor funded by the city. It is being organized by the non-profit group, Rainbow Pride.

Previous year’s ArtWalk events during Pride month did not generate public opposition.

“Cathedral Square is a public space, and our public spaces are open to all citizens,” Johnson said. “There are processes that govern the use of public property and facilities, but the City of Mobile does not discriminate based on age, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, disability, or any other protected characteristic. So long as the City of Mobile owns Cathedral Square, it will be open to everyone.”