Knoxville mayor
to send representative to gay festival

The mayor of Knoxville, Tenn., declined a request to issue a city proclamation and speak at a gay rally and festival scheduled for October 15, but he will be sending a representative, event organizers said Friday. Mayor Bill Haslam was invited by the Rainbow Community Awareness Project, which is organizing the event. The group hopes the LGBT gathering, to be held at Market Square in downtown Knoxville, will be one of the largest in East Tennessee. While organizers said they were disappointed with the mayor's decision, they were thankful for the promised attendance of city representative Bill Lyons, Knoxville's senior director of policy development. Democratic state representative Harry Tindell is also scheduled to attend. "We cannot say the city is supporting us," said Gary Elgin, RCAP's director. "Support and recognition are two different things.... But I'm not going to make a big stink about it, because we are making progress." The city has received some criticism from local residents for showing any recognition of the event, which Lyons said was expected. "We've had some correspondence...from people who are not pleased with the event or any participation in it," he said. "I would not use the word threats. They only voiced concern. We've gotten e-mails and phone calls that were appreciative as well."

Elgin and Beth Maples-Bays, board member of the Tennessee Equality Project, said the parade and rally would celebrate members of the community, not stereotypes. "I think what you're going to see is a lot of moms and dads, a lot of elders, a lot of ordinary people who you see everyday, who don't wear a big sign that says 'I'm gay,' " Maples-Bays said. "I hope [critics] might withhold judgment until they see the parade." (AP)