FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Northwest Arkansas Pride weekend kicked off on Friday with the Pride Parade and Trans March in Fayetteville.
With the recent state of emergency declared for LGBTQ+ Americans by the Human Rights Campaign, some are a little hesitant to gather for this year’s parade.
Sadie Ragan, Executive Director at Cocoon Collective NWA said members of the organization had very differing opinions on pride this year.
“Some people wanted to celebrate how far we’ve come which is how pride usually is right?" said Ragan, “But a lot of folks especially in the trans community didn’t feel safe and being in a big number of people”
So Cocoon Collective is trying to be as accommodating as possible.
“We tried to just be where our people wanted to be,” said Ragan. “If you want to march, we’ll march,” said Ragan “If you want a safe place to hang out, we have people at our headquarters”
As far as safety concerns go, Sergeant Anthony Murphy from the Fayetteville Police Department said they tend to up their staffing for events like these.
“You know, we always have a heightened sense of security and extra officers on the street, either working the parade or the event or actually on the street,” said Murphy.
As for potential threats, Murphy said the department hasn’t gotten any calls, but “Our detectives and our officers are always looking behind the scenes to see if there's any kind of threat”
Overall, staying alert and aware is important.
“We just urge people to be careful when they're down there and be safe. If you see anything that seems unsafe, there should be an officer within eyeshot or near” said Murphy.
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