By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Wearing 13 pounds of a hot pink skirt, high heels, heavy makeup and a wig, Mary St. Jaymes was in her element at the BG Pride rally.
“I forgot what it was like to walk in grass in high heels. Everything hurts,” Jaymes said with a smile as she prepared to emcee the first of two drag performances at the event Saturday afternoon on Bowling Green’s Wooster Green.
The annual rally, organized by BGOPride Association, started small five years ago, drawing about 75 attendees. This Saturday, less than two hours in, the rally had clocked in more than 1,700 attendees.
It was a place for people who years ago may have hesitated being themselves in public – and for those who support them.
“I’m so happy to see the love and support for the community,” BGOPride President Jordan Musgrave said during his welcoming speech at the rally.
“Pride is community. Pride is love. Pride is also a riot,” he said to the crowd.
Bowling Green is a place where LGBTQIA+ people can feel safe being themselves, said Musgrave, who is a Bowling Green City Council member.
Also during the opening, Mayor Mike Aspacher read a proclamation to the crowd gathering on the green.
“Bowling Green has a long history of inclusiveness and being welcoming, and is fortunate to be a diverse community,” the mayor read.
Aspacher noted the proactive stance the city has taken, enacting laws that protect against discrimination, resolutions condemning violence and hate speech, and proclaiming the community as safe and welcoming for all.
Wooster Green was full of booths representing supportive community organizations – Wood County Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Services; Visit BG; LaConexion; League of Women Voters; Brown Bag Food Project; BG Save Our Neighborhoods Group; Welcome BG; National Alliance on Mental Illness; the Cocoon; Wood County Humane Society, plus dog and cat rescue groups.
There were places to register to vote, sign petitions against big data centers, and get free testing for HIV, syphilis and HepC.
Several businesses also had booths, with two – Zen Lotus and Knoblock’s Kneadery – being recognized for being present at all five of the annual rallies.
“It’s awesome. I’m learning more about the community, even though I’ve been living here six years,” Kaylee Ries said in between blowing bubbles.
But hanging over all the happy rainbow paraphernalia was an awareness of the threatening clouds gathering in the nation, where rights afforded LGBTQIA+ communities are at risk.
“This is a great way to show support when the world is so hostile,” said BGSU student Lee Brady, who sat on a park bench with his arm around Ren Lindel, of Swanton. “It’s a great resource for queer people in Bowling Green.”
The men talked about their comfort level being themselves in Bowling Green, but not feeling the same acceptance in other communities.
“BG is welcoming, but if you get outside the BG area it gets more and more tenuous,” Brady said.
Judah Jubilee, who was staffing a Harm Reduction Ohio booth, shared the same concerns.
“It’s a bleak outlook for trans people,” she said.
“We are a major issue as a political target,” Jubilee said, adding that trans people are often misrepresented and used politically as a scapegoat for problems. So groups protecting trans people are becoming a necessity.
“We are going to keep existing,” said Jubilee, who is scheduled to start testosterone treatments later next month.
Those attending the rally were invited to fill in post-it squares to make a mural of what “Pride” means to them. The answers included “finally being myself,” “allyship and advocacy,” “authentically me,” “freedom,” and “I’m not broken.”
Johnny Reid, who said he lives in behavioral treatment housing in Lucas County, said he came to Saturday’s rally since he currently lives with some people who are gay and lesbian.
“I thought I would check it out,” Reid said. “This is really calm and polite. Everyone feels good about one another.”
The most curious aspect of the rally was the clothing, he said.
“They’re dressed a little crazy – but it’s all good,” Reid said.
But in addition to being free to express themselves, people attending also felt free to dress themselves as they wished – without ridicule.
“I knew you looked familiar,” Mary St. Jaymes cooed to Bobbi Elle, dressed in a light blue floral pattern. “You look like my grandma’s china.”
Jaymes explained the slight delay in the drag performance due to the demands of the entertainment form.
“Some of us take a little bit more time to reach perfection,” she said.
When the first show started, the audience rewarded entertainers with shouts of support, applause, and tips. Some of the performers were more athletic, performing splits, back flips and cartwheels.
“I get winded just watching her perform,” Jaymes said of one dancer. “I was never that young or that athletic.”
Other dancers were more sultry and sequined, wearing velvety dresses, big hair and exaggerated makeup. One, who goes by Harper Harmony, played trombone as she performed her drag.
Jaymes praised her diverse talents. “If she can do this without jacking up her lipstick, I’ll give her all my tips,” she said. Harmony completed her routine – with her painted lips and tips intact.
