Despite protests, 2023 Douglas County PrideFest puts on a 'G-rated' show

Colorado drag queen Shirley Delta Blow kicked off Douglas County PrideFest’s drag show with Barbra Streisand’s “Don’t Rain on My Parade” as protesters stood in the audience and Patriot Front members organized outside.

Douglas County PrideFest, which has been targeted by attempts to cancel or restrict the event for the past several months, welcomed an estimated 2,000 attendees to the all-day event on Aug. 26 at the Douglas County Fairgrounds.

Some of those attendees included around 70 people with the Denver-area group Able Shepherd, a tactical training organization, who delayed the drag show by about 30 minutes when they blocked the stage and revealed shirts saying “Stand to Protect the Children.”

After some negotiating with security, protesters moved away from the stage and the show got started, with most protesters leaving as Shirley sang the final line of her song and the audience broke out in cheers.

Shirley told the crowd that along with celebrating the LGBTQ+ community, Pride has always been about standing up against oppression.

“You don’t have to change anything about yourself in order to get the love that you deserve from your family or your community,” she said. “You should be safe and protected in your school, on your sports team, in your church, walking down the street and in your own home.”

Pride organizer Anya Zavadil said it was an overall positive day, despite the disruption. 

In addition to the drag show, where Shirley was joined by drag queens Aundria Sinclair and Anna Staysha, PrideFest also included other performances from CHEER Colorado and the Mile High Freedom Band, drag story hours, crafts, music and a kid’s area.

“Short of a 20 minute, half-an-hour period, it really felt like this was a place people were happy to be,” Zavadil said. “Everyone was having a really good time.”

Parker resident Lori Swenson, who was there with her three grandchildren, echoed the sentiment and said her family was excited to have an event representing the LGBTQ+ community locally. 

“I want people to be able to love who they love and I want people to be themselves, so it means a lot to me,” she said. “The entertainment is no different than going to see a (Dolly Parton) impersonator, they’re here for entertainment.”

Swenson said her grandkids were particularly looking forward to the drag show and were frightened to tears by the protesters.

“They’ve been here all day, happy to be here, but scared now because of the protesters,” she said. “There is no harm in this and I would never put my grandkids in harm’s way.”

Area residents in recent months have expressed concerns about the content of PrideFest and children, but the show didn’t include explicit material. The music for the drag show included Disney tunes and no revealing clothing, with performers in formal-style dresses.

Adam Larimer, of Castle Rock, who came with son Morrison, said having inclusive and accepting events is important for their family. Larimer said they especially enjoyed the drag show.

“Getting to see my son having the time of his life was great,” Larimer said.

Zavadil emphasized that those moments are what Pride is all about and why the theme this year was “You Belong Here.”

Douglas County residents Destiny Flores and Ryan Pinkas-Hernandez paint plant pots at PrideFest on Aug. 26.

“My favorite part of PrideFest always is seeing so many happy people because when we come here, we feel safe and loved and you can feel that,” she said.

‘Reclaim America’

“Go back in the closet.” “There are only two genders.” “Drag queens are child predators.”

Those are some of the messages protesters held up on signs near the entrance to the Douglas County PrideFest, not far from a group of protesters chanting, “Reclaim America.”

Though the promises of a family-friendly drag show at PrideFest came true, about two dozen protesters stood outside the event, with some shouting messages on a bullhorn such as: “Why would you bring your children here to be groomed and assaulted by a bunch of queers?”

After two people walked up in opposition to one of the protest crowds — which gathered on behalf of Patriot Front, according to those with PrideFest — law enforcement escorted the two men away from the crowd, apparently without incident. (Patriot Front is a White supremacist group, according to the Anti-Defamation League. A person with that crowd told a Colorado Community Media reporter not to approach them.)

A teenage event attendee approached the other protest group, debating one of its members.

The teen asked: “Do I look like a pedophile to you?”

In response, they said they “don’t know what happened to me in my childhood that made me end up here,” recounted Alaska, 18, from the north Denver metro area.

“They think everyone here is a groomer or a child that’s being groomed,” said Alaska, who didn’t want to provide her last name.

Commenting on the “go back in the closet” sign a protester held up, Alaska said it was strange.

“Of all the things people could want, that they’d want closeted people. That’s not good for anyone,” Alaska told Colorado Community Media.

Protesters hold up signs near the entrance at the Douglas County Fairgrounds Aug. 26 during Douglas County PrideFest.

One of the people in the second protest group said he’s with the Proud Boys. The Proud Boys are a right-wing extremist group, according to the Anti-Defamation League, an organization that works to oppose antisemitism and bias, its website says.

“The community isn’t keen to this type of display, especially when kids are involved,” said the man, who declined to give his name.

Of PrideFest, he said, “Historically, they’ve had issues with their antics,” also mentioning the fake-nipple exposure from last year’s PrideFest event.

“Our main message is this is for adults. They shouldn’t be promoting this kind of thing for children,” he said. He added that parents will decide what’s best for their children, but he wants the event not to be advertised toward families.

Another chant from the protest area said: “Arrest the groomers.”

Michael Clarkson, head of security for Douglas County PrideFest, said some people came “based on false information that we were groomers,” or predators.

He thinks he “built some bridges with them.”

“The first thing is to shake their hand (and say) I’ll happily walk you through the kids’ area. I’ll show you the drag show,” Clarkson said, adding he wants people to have facts.

“Those who think we’re groomers aren’t getting facts,” Clarkson said.

County leader spoke of ‘vigilante security’ 

A call for volunteer security for PrideFest ahead of the event had elicited criticism from Douglas County Commissioner George Teal, one of the county’s elected leaders, earlier in the week. He described the call as seeking “some variety of vigilante security.”

Teal, in an Aug. 22 meeting of county officials, also referred to “the advocates of PrideFest” as “advocating vigilante violence, it sounds like.”

In a Facebook post, Clarkson had written that “local hate groups are threatening our event.”

“I NEED YOUR HELP: I don't often ask for help, but I need it right now. I need people to volunteer to show up to Douglas County PrideFest in Castle Rock, CO on 8/26. This is an all-hands-on-deck call. I need people willing to show up and support the LGBTQIA+ community. We need people to be a show of strength and unity against hate,” Clarkson wrote in the Aug. 9 post.

The post continues: “Because of Douglas County's rules, we have to allow open carry and cannot eject someone from the event without a clear cause. As such, security volunteers with police, military, and private security backgrounds are especially needed, but all volunteers are welcome to be our eyes and ears. Please share this, send it to your friends, and get the word out. If we show up in enough numbers, we can prevent violence before it starts. Let's protect the community and keep the hate away with a wall of love.”

(The Facebook post was included in a story by NewsBreak Denver.)

A group of protesters who gathered on behalf of an organization called Patriot Front, according to those with PrideFest, walk down the road Aug. 26.

Teal’s characterizations of a call seeking volunteers came as he proposed to cancel the PrideFest event during that meeting, a motion that failed on a 2-1 vote, with county Commissioners Abe Laydon and Lora Thomas voting against.

Clarkson, reacting to the accusations of “vigilante violence,” told Colorado Community Media at the event: “It was exactly the opposite. It was so we can make sure no violence occurred.”

“By having a large presence, nothing got violent,” Clarkson said. “In fact, most of my staff was not armed.”

The Denver-area group, Able Shepherd, that also protested at the event had been mentioned during the county officials’ meeting earlier in the week.

At the meeting, Thomas referred to a Facebook post about a “training that Able Shepherd is doing at John Anderson’s ranch on Thursday,” adding that the training was “for the Pride event.”

Teal described Able Shepherd as a “well-regulated militia.”

Able Shepherd’s website describes it as a “tactical training program in Denver, Colorado, designed to teach situational awareness, leadership, first aid and protective tactics that can be applied to virtually any threatened environment.”

“At its core, Able Shepherd is an elite-level self-defense program utilizing armed and unarmed tactics,” it adds.

Said Teal: “I think it’s disturbing that a well-regulated militia like Able Shepherd that is doing everything to ensure firearm safety and the appropriate ability of our very residents to empower themselves and defend themselves is being confused and conflated with a random call for individuals who do have experience in violent action.”

Teal described the group as having “taken the responsibility in many opportunities to provide armed security at churches, at schools.”

Clarkson said the group protesting at the PrideFest stage was led by Able Shepherd.

“To their credit, (a) peaceful protest,” Clarkson said.

It appears that Able Shepherd did not come armed, as far as Clarkson could tell.

Laydon, the commissioner, issued a statement the night of the event. 

"I am hopeful we can all continue to learn and grow from one another,” Laydon said. “It is unfortunate that some members of the community thought it was productive to try and block a G-rated performance, but thankfully a compromise was achieved for it to proceed peacefully without incident.” 

On social media platform X, or Twitter, Thomas wrote that the “only distraction” at the drag show was the group of men who displayed T-shirts that said “stand to protect children” and delayed the performance. 

“Otherwise the show was entertaining and followed the county’s contractual regulations,” Thomas wrote.

‘Love everyone exactly how they are’

Eli Bazan, cofounder of Parasol Patrol, an organization that attends events and acts as a buffer between the public and protesters, said “it was heartbreaking” when Able Shepherd blocked the stage.

“There were kids crying all over the place. It’s a horrible situation,” Bazan said.

He thought anger toward drag events was misplaced, similar in his mind to concerns over so-called critical race theory in schools.

“It was CRT for a while, and now the boogeyman is drag queen story hour,” Bazan said.

Asked what he hopes the public takes away from PrideFest, Bazan said: “That we take care of each other, that we stand together, and that we love everyone exactly how they are.”