September 2, 2016
Kim Davis' Hometown Holds Its First LGBT Pride
READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Kim Davis must be pissed.
It's been about a year since the defiant Kentucky county clerk made headlines after landing in the clink for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. At the time, Davis, who ignored the Supreme Court's landmark ruling on same-sex marriage and cited her religious beliefs for her naughty behavior, said she has "friends who are gay and lesbian" but was oddly absent when her hometown of Morehead, Ky. when it held its first LGBT Pride, New Now Next reports.
The even was organized by David Moore, one of the first people Davis denied a marriage license. After he finally married his husband last October he wanted to celebrate by creating a Pride parade in the town. Teaming up with Morehead Pride, an LGBT nonprofit in the town, and Morehead tourism board, Moore launched Eastern Kentucky's first LGBT event last weekend.
The show included performances from drag queens, including one queen who dressed as Davis. A number of activists and plenty from Kentucky's LGBT community showed up for the celebration.
According to Vice, Moore was accused of creating the event to spite Davis and her defiance from last year but he said she was the "catalyst" that sparked him to be open about his feelings on LGBT rights.
"There've been people who have been afraid to be allies, or people who have been afraid to not voice hatred, for fear of being labeled part of the LGBT community," Sheri Wright, an attendee, told Vice. "[Now] they're saying, who cares?"
Check out photos from the event via Morehead's Facebook.
It shouldn't be a shocker that Morehead held an LGBT event. Dallas Black, who turned out to be Davis' gay friend (though he said she's not someone he "wouldn't get lunch with"), said last year that she "has become the face of Morehead, and that's not the face we want to portray."
Black told the Daily Beast at the time Morehead is one of the most progressive college towns in Kentucky - a fact he is proud of. In 2013, the city council approved an LGBT non-disaffirmation ordinance and many LGBT people live in Morehead.
"This is kind of like a sanctuary for people who came to [Morehead State University]. They live here now, they've made it their home because it's so progressive," Black told the website. "And now it's like, what is this place we live in? This is not the home we know. We don't feel safe now. That's ultimately what she did. She made us feel like our home was invaded by strangers, and she made us strangers to it."