Our Support for Boro Pride and The Tennessee Equality Project
Boro Pride is Good for Murfreesboro
Every day we advocate for the LGBTQ+ community throughout Middle Tennessee. Recently Murfreesboro's City Manager sent a letter stating that he would deny all future event permits for Boro Pride and specifically from the Tennessee Equality Project. We sent our own letter to the City Manager voicing our support for both Boro Pride and the Tennessee Equality Project who produces the event. You can read the full text of our letter here.
If you want to help and show your support for Boro Pride, please feel free to call or send your own letter or email to:
Mayor Shane McFarland
City of Murfreesboro
111 West Vine Street
P.O. Box 1139
Murfreesboro, TN 37133-1139
615-849-2629
You can also attend the next Murfreesboro City Council with Public Comments on Thursday, December 1 at 5:30 PM. We will be there speaking along with allied businesses.
Murfreesboro City Council Special Session with Public Comment
Thursday, December 1, 2022
5:30 PM
City Hall - Council Chambers
111 W Vine St.
Murfreesboro, TN 37130
We are confident that the City of Murfreesboro will do the right thing and Boro Pride will continue as planned next year.
November 10, 2022
Craig Tindall
City of Murfreesboro
111 West Vine Street
P.O. Box 1139
Murfreesboro, TN 37133-1139
Re: Boro Pride Festival
Dear Mr. Tindall,
On behalf of our members and Board of Directors, we are asking you to: (1) reverse your decision to deny special events permits to the Tennessee Equality Project and (2) work with Boro Pride, TEP and other organizations to continue hosting Pride Festivals in Murfreesboro. The Nashville LGBT Chamber of Commerce represents over 400 corporations, small businesses, and individual LGBTQ+ and allied professionals throughout Middle Tennessee, including many who live and work in Murfreesboro and Rutherford County.
Murfreesboro is a rapidly growing city and is home to many people who identify as LGBTQ+, including children. LGBTQ+ professionals, their families and working parents of children who identify as LGBTQ+, want to live and work in communities that are supportive and embrace them. Boro Pride is important to show that all people are welcome in Murfreesboro. Pride Festivals help businesses and corporations attract and retain talent, show their customers they are welcoming to them and help to generate business for the entire community.
It is estimated that over 7,000 guests attended Boro Pride this year. When Pride Festivals are embraced by local governments, they do more than provide a safe space for LGBTQ+ citizens, they provide a boost to local economies. Just this month, Palm Springs, a small city of under 45,000 residents, hosted a Pride Festival that had an estimated 125,000 attendees and saw an economic impact of $25,000,000 in their community. Many municipalities around the country underwrite and invest in Pride Festivals because of the economic impact. Hotels fill up, restaurants sales go up, stores see an increase in traffic and local entrepreneurs participate in a festival that helps build their business. All those activities also generate tax revenue.
In addition to generating revenue for the local community, Pride Festivals are an opportunity to engage and educate everyone on the LGBTQ+ community not only with parties, but parades and workshops that honor the LGBTQ+ pioneers who fought for equality through art, culture, civic action, and community service. We ask that you refrain from denying this opportunity for the Murfreesboro community.
Sincerely,
The Nashville LGBT Chamber of Commerce
CC: Mayor Shane McFarland, Vice Mayor Bill Shacklett, Councilmembers Jami Averwater, Madelyn Scales Harris, Austin Maxwell, Kirt Wade, Shawn Wright