Franklin Cultural Council Eyes Pride Day for LGBTQ+ Community

Above, Kaye Kelly kicks off Tuesday night's meeting...

The Franklin Cultural Council met virtually Tuesday evening, February 2, 2022.

Co-chair Kaye Kelly noted that “a lot has happened” since the last meeting, in particular decisions on grant awards were completed after a lot of effort. “The MCC [Massachusetts Cultural Council] has a new software on the websites and it was much like doing taxes, it really took a long time,” she said.

In total, there were 26 awardees. The awardees have been announced, one at a time, via Facebook, she noted.

She also said that she was questioning whether there was value in holding an in-person awards reception, as has been done in the past. Due to continued Covid concerns, there was support for engaging with a virtual meeting, instead.

She noted that a cultural organization in Attleborough that has engaged Franklin students in the past was an award recipient in this round but reported that they are not currently serving Franklinites, and returned the money to the Council.

At Kelly’s request, Co-Chair Lillian Gould discussed Arts Advocacy Day, a spring tradition. Gould noted that the inspiration had come from Mass Creative, a statewide organization. She reviewed the history of that effort, which helped teach people in the arts community to have “an elevator pitch” to explain their needs. And, she noted, following one of those Mass Creative events, she and others had successfully visited legislators on Beacon Hill.

She said a local event had been run from 2017-2019 but had ceased with the pandemic. Doing it again, regularly, could have value, she said, but perhaps annually is “too much.” In part that’s because of the high level of investment involved but also because the effort reaches the same people repeatedly, and thus may not need to be done as regularly.

There followed a wide-ranging discussion about possible arts-oriented events, perhaps in the spring, and engaging with potential partners such as Dean, to promote the arts and arts advocacy.

Kelly then discussed her rough draft proposal for Pride Day on Saturday, June 25. “This is a draft, no permits have been pulled, the times haven't been set,” she said. According to Kelly, at least four different groups in Franklin have indicated they want to help plan the event and want to participate.

She warned that there were many details to consider, including the cost of police and DPW support. But the idea drew a generally favorable response from members, with some stressing that they wanted a ‘drag queen’ component, too.

On the other hand, some members expressed concern about “competing” with more established events, such as in Boston, that could siphon off attendance and support.

Kelly noted that partners could help. For example, she mentioned the Franklin Interfaith Council, as well as the Franklin Freedom Team, which includes the Town Administrator and the Superintendent of Schools.

The Council discussed a few more topics informally, before adjourning for the evening.