We Will Still Be Seen: Pop-Up Pride event planned following NEW Pride Alive postponement

NEW Pride Alive, originally planned for Sept. 19-20 at the Brown County Fairgrounds, announced its postponement less than a week before festivities were due to start, citing an “increasingly charged political climate” as the primary reason for the delay.

“Pride is more than a celebration; it is a movement rooted in the fight for equality and safety,” a NEW Pride Alive Facebook post stated. “For many in our community, this event is one of the few times they can gather openly and feel affirmed in their identity. Because our Pride is one of the few that takes place in September, it can draw heightened attention during a time of increased tension. We have a responsibility to ensure our space remains safe and welcoming and empowering for everyone.”

Facing those same concerns and a quick turnaround time, Tarl Knight and other community leaders have stepped up to offer a new opportunity for LGBTQIA+ community members to celebrate this fall at We Will Still Be Seen: A Pop-Up Pride, happening this Saturday, Oct. 4, in downtown Green Bay.

NEW Pride Alive has also announced a new festival date and location of Sunday, Nov. 2, at the Oneida Casino Hotel.

“Our LGBTQIA+ community is always facing political social pressures and intimidation and threats,” Knight said. “We’re facing a lot of intimidation and threatening pressure at the federal level and at the state level and it translates to a lesser quality of life and amount of visibility and pride we’re allowed to take in ourselves and in our identities. And so it’s vital that we continue to stand together and support and advocate for one another and create opportunities for visibility, celebration and connection. That’s what pride is about… Our pride has to be very visible and very local. It’s a lot more simple to just wait for the next person to create a space and to create an opportunity, but my friends Amaad Rivera-Wagner, Joey Prestley, Rachel Maes, Martha Marvel, my business partner Mark Mariucci, folks at the city like Matt Buchanan, from the Oneida Nation Joseph Torres, from the UW-Green Bay Pride Center Nicole Kurth and other local activists, we came together.”

We Will Still Be Seen: A Pop-Up Pride will be a family-friendly pride celebration starting with a rally on the CityDeck at 12 p.m., followed by speakers from the LGBTQIA+ community, a community walk and a block party at The Tarlton Theatre and The Truck Yard At The Tarlton.

“We wanted to bring people together in the LGBTQIA+ community of greater Green Bay in our downtown in a way which was vibrant and very proud and outspoken and social to create come visibility and connections in the face of recent threats, violence and harassment to folks in the LGBTQIA+ community,” Knight, who owns The Tarlton Theatre and The Truck Yard At The Tarlton, said.
But it’s not just those who attend the event that Knight hopes will find value in it.

“It’s not only important to us, but it’s vital for the folks who won’t come,” Knight said. “It’s important that our city sees and hears from people who look different and who dress differently from them — who act differently and love differently. And it’s really important that we set a precedent that visibility and togetherness is the path forward for Green Bay and our nation. That means meeting our opponents or the people who won’t celebrate us… It’s important to meet them with an opportunity to understand and learn and connect. That’s the importance of pride right now. And with Green Bay never having a June pride [event] in the first place to be able to celebrate during Pride Month with the rest of Wisconsin and the world… We knew this was our time to take a stand and be very proud.”

In addition to this weekend’s Pop-Up Pride, Knight and other organizers are planning a bigger Green Bay Pride event to take place in June, giving Northeast Wisconsin LGBTQIA+ community members an additional opportunity to celebrate.

“It’s really important that we have that opportunity with great weather and with all of the surrounding communities in the Midwest who celebrate during June in solidarity and in coordination,” Knight said. “Pop-Up Pride will certainly be an indicator as to the local performances, local vendors and local resources we’ll have available for our community, but [the June pride celebration] will be much bigger, much braver and much more proud.”

All proceeds from Saturday’s Pop-Up Pride will support Green Bay Pride, a community-driven Pride festival planned for Saturday, June 13, and Sunday, June 14 in downtown Green Bay

Green Bay Pride will be a partnership between the Bay Area Council On Gender Diversity, The Tarlton Theatre, and community leaders including Representative Amaad Rivera-Wagner, Alderman Joey Prestley, Matthew Buchanan, Sly Chou, Tarl Knight, Nicole Kurth, Rachel Maes, Mark Mariucci, Martha Marvel and Joseph Torres.

For more information, check out the Green Bay Pride Facebook page.