Despite Local, State and Federal Challenges, BoroPride Carries On

Even though Pride Month ended many weeks ago, more and more rainbow flags have been popping up around Murfreesboro homes and businesses. 

BoroPride, a locally produced Pride festival held in Murfreesboro since 2016, returns to Middle Tennessee State University’s Tennessee Miller Coliseum this Saturday from noon to 6 p.m. — despite past efforts from right-wing groups and conservative politicians to ban the festival. BoroPride has also gained notice for taking place in the fall, rather than the summertime, when most big Pride events are held.

“Originally, it was supposed to be in early September, and that was honestly just because the very first committee meeting was in June,” says William Langston, a member of the festival’s planning committee since 2016. “It was around the time MTSU opened up [for the fall semester], and so it was a good time to have an event and welcome everybody to town.” 

BoroPride’s past is almost as colorful as its flags. The festival has faced several challenges in recent years, including fallout from the state legislature’s ban on adult drag performances in public — legislation that was met with legal challenges, but that the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately declined to rule on. Corporate sponsors have also pulled funding from Pride celebrations nationwide after the Trump administration’s crackdown on diversity initiatives. Though the lack of corporate sponsorship has indeed impacted BoroPride, the organization still received funds from the Tennessee Equality Project, a nonprofit that advocates for the state’s LGBTQ community through lobbying.

“It’s no secret that corporate support has dried up,” says Langston. “Most of the corporate sponsors that we’ve had for years did not come back.” 

Langston is nevertheless adamant that BoroPride is here to stay.

“We may not be able to do everything we want to do in future years, but we should be able to keep doing Pride,” he says.

MT Lambda, MTSU’s all-inclusive LGBTQ and ally student organization, has been involved with BoroPride for years. The club’s current president, Rio Martinez, looks forward to carrying that tradition into 2025.

“BoroPride is a reminder that although things are especially tough right now, we do have community,” Martinez says. “It’s a reminder that queer people are still here and will continue to exist in public spaces as they always have.”

Attendees can find the MT Lambda booth at BoroPride if they’d like to learn about resources for young adult members of the queer community.

“It’s an incredible way to convey to those struggling from societal oppression as a result of being queer that they’re not alone,” Martinez says. “Our community mourns and shares that pain, but we also won’t stop fighting for a better future.” 

In 2023, BoroPride came under threat when state Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) introduced Senate Bill 3 to the Tennessee General Assembly — legislation that drew national headlines and came to be known informally as a “drag ban.”  At the time, Johnson argued that the legislation, which ultimately passed, protects children from “overtly sexual entertainment.”

Murfreesboro Settles Lawsuit Over 2023 BoroPride Festival Ban

The city has agreed to pay $500,000 to event organizers Tennessee Equality Project

That same year, Murfreesboro City Manager Craig Tindall said in a letter to the Tennessee Equality Project — which hosts Pride events across Tennessee — that he would deny any future special event permits to TEP for being “misleading” on a 2022 permit application. Lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union proceeded to sue the city of Murfreesboro for violating BoroPride’s First Amendment right to free expression. 

As argued in the ACLU’s suit: “Although the City initially acknowledged TEP’s First Amendment rights to engage in political and expressive speech in the public square, the City, including Murfreesboro Mayor Shane McFarland and City Manager Craig Tindall, quickly began a campaign to retaliate against TEP and prevent TEP and others [from] advancing similar messages from using the City’s public spaces.”

Ultimately, the ACLU and TEP won a $500,000 settlement, which Murfreesboro agreed to pay to the event organizers. 

This year, BoroPride attendees can expect food trucks, a picnic area, a concert, lots of vendors and, of course, a karaoke room. People who want to sing but maybe don’t want to be heard can enjoy music at the outdoor stage. Jayme Graves, a queer Nashville-based pop-punk artist, returns to BoroPride this year as a headliner. 

Love for the LGBTQ community is what keeps organizers like Langston going, especially in stressful times.

“It’s just such an affirming experience to be able to be a part of putting [BoroPride] on and to see how many people come and how much it means to them,” says Langston. “It’s so worth it in the end.”

Historically, the queer community is accustomed to struggle, Martinez points out. But despite all the efforts to silence them over the years, they remain loud and proud. 

“We know there are so many amazing individuals willing to put in the work as we always have,” he says. “Nothing can stop us.”