A four-hour family-friendly Bunnell Pride event is scheduled for noon Sunday at the 2K Ranch in Bunnell, one of many such events across the state throughout the year. It is Flagler County’s only LGBTQ+-friendly festival this year. Town Center in Palm Coast hosted Pride festivals for a few years until 2024, when the first Pride in Bunnell picked up the torch. This is its third edition.
The event is hosted by Amber Embers, who runs an online shop called the Cosmic Hippie, a “natural remedies” and wellness products business. The event has been advertised mostly on Facebook as “a fabulous celebration of love and equality,” inviting the community to “support, honor, and celebrate LGBTQIA+ individuals and our allies” with a day of “pride, joy, music, art, connection, and love. Let’s stand together in solidarity and show the world that love is love!”
“At the end of the day, this event has always been about bringing our community together,” Embers said today. “We welcome families, veterans, seniors, local businesses, nonprofit organizations, and residents from every background. Our focus has always been creating a safe, positive environment where people can support one another.”
But Embers said this afternoon that “we are extremely worried about violence” after WNZF aired a news clip this morning quoting an unnamed Proud Boys member saying there would be a protest of the event. The event has been getting aggressive–and now inaccurate–attention, mostly from a Facebook page called “St. Augustine News Uncensored.”
A Facebook post authored by Anthony Sargent blared a “groomer alert” on May 24, claiming the 2K Ranch was “Atracting [sic] children for illegal drag show and alcohol partying. Sick. All ages?” The page showed a June 4 posting allegedly by the Cosmic Hippie listing the many events planned for Sunday, among them “Drag performances,” but acknowledged later that that part had been scrapped. A May 21 copy of the announcement posted by the Palm Coast Democratic Club showed no reference to a drag show, and a May 28 posting by the Cosmic Hippie showed the same list, without a reference to a drag show. Sargent may have shot the editing history of the post, which did show “Drag Performances,” in which case focusing on a scrap from the cutting room floor would amount to malicious unfairness.
Embers confirmed that “Early in the planning process, I included a drag performance because last year’s performance received overwhelmingly positive feedback from attendees.” Last year a three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit of Appeals had ruled in mid-May that the Florida law banning drag shows where children were present was unconstitutional. That reopened the way for such performances–until the same court reversed in December, letting the law stand until a full panel of the 11th circuit would hear the case.
“After learning about the evolving legal concerns surrounding public drag performances, I decided not to move forward with that portion of the event,” Embers said. “As soon as that decision was made, I updated the flyer and removed the reference from our published materials and social media. The screenshot that has been circulating appears to have been taken before those changes were made.” She added: “My priority has always been putting on a safe, family-friendly community event while complying with applicable laws and minimizing unnecessary controversy.”
The WNZF news item by Liz Ryan took account of none of those facts. It began by citing the unnamed member of what it referred to as the Proud Boys, who said “it’s really a drag show,” and that, in the reporter’s words, “his group will be there protesting it” because the event is not restricted to people 18 and over. The Proud Boys, a white nationalist group, are designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center and described by the George Washington University Program on Extremism as “a far-right neo-fascist organization” that recruits “potential members by appealing to what they perceive as the erosion of Western culture by feminists, socialists, immigrants, and the LGBTQ+ community in an ultimate plot to oppress men.”
More than 40 Proud Boys were indicted for their roles in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. President Trump pardoned them among more than 1,500 riot defendants.
The WNZF news clip does not put the Proud Boys in the context of their history of anti-LGBTQ activism or other aggressions, and presents the quoted source as just anther point of view. The report went on to cite two event organizers, including Embers, saying it is not a drag show.
The Sargent Facebook posts worried the organizers enough that they inquired with the Sheriff’s Office about hiring off-duty deputies for security. One participant told FlaglerLive this morning that “this is feeling like another Pulse incident waiting to happen.” He would not identify himself for fear of retaliation, but said the Sheriff’s Office was not helping.
That was not quite accurate. “No credible threats have been made” that the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office is aware of, Tonya Woodworth, a sheriff’s spokesperson, said this afternoon. ”I can confirm that the event organizer did inquire about the process on how to obtain an off-duty detail but chose not to follow through with the application process. We are, however, providing increased patrols during the event.”
“We’ve been working with the Sheriff’s Office regarding safety concerns since May 25, after we began receiving threats related to this year’s Pride event,” Embers said. “We started the process of requesting off-duty deputies, but unfortunately we were unable to afford the cost.” It would have cost about $600 for two off-duty deputies for the duration of the event.
“This is a community event that I personally organize and fund,” she wrote in a text. “We intentionally keep vendor fees low because our goal is to support local small businesses and nonprofit organizations, not profit from them. As vendors ourselves, we understand how difficult it is for many small businesses to participate in community events, and I didn’t feel it was right to substantially increase their costs to cover security expenses. In previous years, two off-duty undercover deputies attended the event. I understand that policy changes no longer allow those officers to volunteer their time, which left us with the paid option. Despite not having off-duty deputies assigned, we’ve remained in communication with the Sheriff’s Office throughout this process. They have informed us they will be increasing patrols in the area because of the threats that have been reported.”
But for those who know little or nothing about them, drag shows are not sexual or erotic performances anymore than barbershop quartets are homoerotic circle jerks. But they have been sexualized as part of an ill-informed backlash against the LGBTQ+ community in some conservative states, particularly Florida, where a 2023 law sharply restricted certain shows by age, in effect making drag shows illegal, as venues were fearful of testing the law’s limits. The law has been in litigation, though the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has allowed the ban to stand as the case is being argued.
The full court heard arguments in the case on June 2, and appeared divided. Oral arguments can be heard in full here.
Bunnell Pride will be at the 2K Ranch, 6067 Tangerine Avenue, starting at noon Sunday. Entry is free and open to the public. And it is open to all ages. “At a time when so many people feel disconnected, Pride reminds us what community looks like — kindness, support, freedom, and celebration,” the Democratic Club post reads.
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