On a Saturday in early September, the small city of London, Kentucky, will host its third annual Pride festival, this year moving to the downtown area. The Pride of London's third annual celebration, set for September 5 at the Town Center on North Main Street, marks a significant milestone for the grassroots organization.
But the road to this year's downtown debut has been anything but smooth. When organizers promoted the event on Facebook, the response turned ugly fast. Board member Christopher Nolan, who grew up in London, described a flood of hostile comments ranging from slurs to people calling drag queens "demons." Some went further, he said, grouping the organizers with pedophiles and accusing them of trying to groom children because the festival would be held near an elementary school.
"Lots of we were damned to hell and they hope a bunch of rednecks shows up and teaches us a lesson," Nolan told LEX 18. The backlash was especially painful coming from his own hometown. "It was hard to see my own community react that way. Like there's such a negative base towards the LGBTQ community," he said. Nolan knows what it's like to feel different in London. "I was that queer kid in London, Kentucky that was pushed in a corner and everybody looked at weird because I dressed different or because I talked different," he recalled.
The organization received its tax-exempt status from the IRS in September 2024. The festival will feature vendors, community groups, music, and performers.
Now, as the festival prepares to move to the heart of downtown London, Nolan says the organizers are not backing down, even if protesters show up. "We'll welcome them with love just the same as we do everyone else," he said. "I just want people to know you're safe and you're loved, we're here for you."
For a community where Pride was once unthinkable, the sight of rainbow flags along Main Street will be a statement in itself. For Nolan, the festival is about ensuring that no young person in London has to feel the way he once did — pushed into a corner, looked at strangely for being different. The third annual Pride of London is his answer, and it's one he intends to deliver with open arms.