Opinion
7-minute read
Truth Vs Insanity
Truth Vs Insanity is a Column we run from time to time when we see large disparities in Media coverage and/or in Marketing and Advertising between what is factual and what is blatantly misleading to the citizenry of Ottawa County. This month, the disparity is in the way the 2024 Grand Haven Pride Festival has chosen to market itself to the community's businesses in order to raise sponsorships.
The Grand Haven Pride Festival Committee
Vs
The Citizens of Ottawa County and Grand Haven
This coming weekend on June 8, the City of Grand Haven will host their second annual, "Pride Festival." We've put the title in quote marks because we're not altogether sure of what the Festival Committee is proud of exactly. One has to wonder after last year's stunning debacle of soliciting children in a public space in broad daylight, why they would consider featuring a drag-queen show again this year at the festival.
*Unfortunately, it has become necessary to educate the public on what the Truth Vs Insanity is in the promotion of this event.
Rev. Jared Cramer of St. John's Episcopal Church in Grand Haven has enthusiastically promoted the pride festival again this year, publicly asking for donors. Here is the INSANE nature of what has been put on their promotional materials in order to raise sponsors for funding.
Do you find this photo upsetting or insane?? We do not, and that is because the above photo is benign. However, the TRUTH of what happened in the public square last summer on a Saturday afternoon, is in the photos below. The insane part about the above promo is that it's a lie.
WARNING: These are startling photos below if you haven't seen them. Yet, since this happened in public and since the Pride Festival Committee, as well as the Grand Haven City Council continues to support this endeavor, in addition to asking area businesses to "invest," we feel it is a responsibility to educate the public about what took place.
Before scrolling down, we want to be clear of our point: If Rev. Cramer and the Grand Haven City Pride Committee is so PROUD of this event, the most poignant question is this: WHY didn't they market it with the TRUE photos of what took place last year instead of the benign one??
⬇️
The soliciting of children for cash at a drag queen performance at Waterfront Stadium downtown Grand Haven on a Saturday afternoon.
What Can You Do About This?
Take a look at the businesses supporting these events and ask yourself if this is the type of business you want to spend your hard-earned income supporting. *If you work for one of these organizations, perhaps you can share these photographs with them [in a kind, respectful way], along with the articles below [which are some additional resources we've included] to demonstrate how these events are hurting the children of our community. We suspect some of the contributors are unaware of how bad last year's event was and how many people were hurt by it and how many do not want events like a drag queen show in a public space, especially for citizens under the age of 18 in our communities.
Another thing you can do is speak out against this behavior by publicly attending a Grand Haven City Council meeting and sharing your opinion during public comment. *Even if you're not from Grand Haven, it would help the City to know that Ottawa County at large is aware and does not support this behavior, especially around children. Here is a link to a schedule of the Grand Haven City Council’s Public meetings. *The next one is upcoming Tonight, on June 3. *Click here to see calendar for upcoming meetings.
The 2023 TRUTH: Children appear to be publicly solicited by sexually inappropriate behavior in Grand Haven at the 2023 Pride Festival, dismissed by Cramer as "Family Friendly." Area businesses have signed up to support this AGAIN.
TRUTH
The 2024 INSANITY⬇️: Cramer and the Grand Haven Pride Committee marketing this Event to businesses as if the event were benign, while openly claiming bigotry of those who won't support it.
INSANITY
Again, we ask: If Rev. Cramer and the Grand Haven City Pride Committee is so PROUD of this event, the most poignant question is: WHY didn't they market it with the TRUE photos of what took place instead of the benign photo they are actually using? Do the area businesses that have participated in financial support of this KNOW the truth?
Additional Resources
As promised above, here are some additional resources for anyone needing to inform the Pubic that these things happened last year at the Grand Haven Pride Festival. If a community wants change, creating awareness is important. *If it happened in Grand Haven, it can happen anywhere in Ottawa County. You can get ahead of this by sharing these resources. This one is a social media piece Restore Ottawa put together from the 2023 Pride Event with more photos and video. *We recognize that some people are not comfortable posting or sharing the post on social media for obvious reasons, yet even privately texting and/or emailing a link of this post to unaware citizens can create more awareness and we encourage it.
See Here for Restore Ottawa Facebook Post
Not-So-Old News
Children Groomed at Grand Haven Drag Show...
If you prefer more of an article format to share instead of social media, Restore Ottawa does an excellent job with this account of last year's event. *It's been 11 months since the Grand Haven Pride festival. Given what took place, we find this news Not-So-Old. Please share this information with citizens in Ottawa County.
Sick of this yet? Yeah, so are we.
--You really need to need to know who specifically is running for office under the Republican Party "label." Many of them are not vetted Republicans. Not everyone who claims to be a Republican, IS a Republican. Some unvetted "Republicans" support the endeavors of exposing the Community's children to the content of these events in the name of "Inclusion." However, If a candidate is endorsed by the Ottawa County Republican Delegation, the Delegation assures you their endorsement only supports candidates who know the difference between the first amendment that protects the free speech of drag queens and the laws that protect children from situational harm. For a list of endorsed candidates who believe drag shows should be in clubs for adults over the age of 18 and not in a public space, see HERE.
Or, to learn more about each of these candidates, see here.