MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – A Dane County Board supervisor objected to the Henry Vilas Zoo sponsoring a Pride festival celebrating the queer community and featuring drag performances.
Members of Dane County’s LGBTQ+ community celebrated each other Sunday at the 6th annual Magic Pride Festival in Warner Park. People came to honor their history, connect with friends and family, and watch live performances by local drag artists. It was those performances that prompted a Dane County board leader to question funding for the event.
Supervisor Jeff Weigand is one of 37 supervisors on the Dane County Board. He represents the 20th District and issued a press release criticizing the Henry Vilas Zoo for its sponsorship of the Pride Festival.
“Drag show performances where a man or woman dresses up as the opposite sex and doesn’t show any particular restraint in their clothing are not appropriate,” he said. “When I saw their sponsorship on OutReach’s website, it gave me pause and made me worry.”
According to a spokesperson for the Henry Vilas Zoo, the zoo hosted an after-hours drag show called Drag Me To The Zoo in June that raised $15,000. The zoo’s senior managers then spent $2,500 to sponsor a Pride festival because OutReach LGBTQ+ had helped organize the drag show in June.
AJ Hardie, program director at OutReach LGBTQ+ Community Center, said Weigand’s press release was homophobic.
“Frankly, it boils down to someone using their position in local government to impose their morals on others, and that’s not OK,” he said. “What children experience is up to them and their parents. And if someone in government tries to step in and say they know better about children, that’s actually counterproductive, because we have a lot of queer youth here, we have a lot of queer families, and this is a place where those people can feel at home as well.”
“I would say to any gay family: You are loved,” Weigand said. “You are valuable, but children should not be raised that way. Children should be exposed to a family where there is a mother and a father.”
Hardie said Weigand’s opinion is nothing new and shows that events like the Magic Pride Festival are important to the Dane County community.
“Our strength comes from our unity and from the fact that we can count on each other. And from dealing with these exact attacks for decades,” he said. “Queer people pay taxes too. These are our tax dollars and they should go to the services and supports that we need and that benefit us.”
Hardie also said the festival had more sponsors this year than ever since its inception.
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