If you don’t think that Pikeville is an accepting and diverse community, you are sadly mistaken.
In case you missed the events of last weekend, let me recap. There was a moon viewing last Friday evening. It was open to all and people had the option to see the moon and learn a little more about our universe. I was not there but I’m sure it was a great family event.
Early Saturday morning there was a veteran’s run to raise money and awareness. A great cause and we owe a great deal of gratitude to all our veterans. Those two events were not the beacon of diversity; the following events later Saturday were where the diversity showed.
On Saturday the city held their annual Hippie Fest, there was a Pikeville Pride event sponsored by a private organization, the University of Pikeville had their Hall of Fame weekend and to top it all off a wedding party paraded through the downtown area causing a stir of confusion to the attendees of all events.
People were not sure if the wedding was real or part of the drag show. Saturday was Christmas for the people watchers.
The city streets were filled with culture and it appeared as if there was a clear delineation of conservatives and liberals. Regardless of what you believe in or what side of the political fence you stand, the events were a success and it showed that people can all get along if we just set aside our differences and not have other’s values shoved down people’s throats.
On Main Street, what appeared to be liberals all joined hands and celebrated their views and culture. There were booths and vendors selling items and educating people on sexual diversity. There was music, rainbow flags and a drag show. Drag queens and kings were free to parade through the city streets. It was a time for that sector of the population to freely express themselves in a safe and welcoming environment.
On Second Street appeared to be the conservatives — the hippies. There were also vendors selling tie-dye garb, wine, candles and, of course, incense. On Division Street where the two streets and culture met, there was acceptance, patience and freedom. The Pride people dressed in their regalia peacefully intermingled with the hippies wearing multi colored T-shirts and Birkenstocks.
A wedding party suddenly appeared in their wedding attire, the bride in her dress and the groom in his tuxedo, which based on the diversity of the day, was surprising to see a traditional wedding.
And to top it all off, there were UPike students and their families walking downtown taking in all the sights that were clearly present. I would have loved to hear the resulting conversations with those families.
My curiosity got the best of me and I decided to venture downtown to explore the events of the day. I walked along Main Street and visited all the booths, listened to the music ion the stage, saw the drag queens and spoke to a few people who told me they were excited to be in town.
In a strange way I felt like a lamb chop in the lion’s den. I entered their realm and I figured I would go with the flow. I was not attacked, accosted or pressured to change my views. I made the choice to enter into that camp and I was treated with respect and kindness. All was good.
I walked over to the hippie section and while It was a little more my style, it wasn’t what hippie fests of yesteryear were. There were no people on LSD spinning out of control, no smell of the whacky weed, no nudity, just people enjoying the music and the beautiful sunshine daydream.
Music, food and acceptance were on the menu for all participants Saturday. There were people stopping strangers just to shake their hands. Again, it was my choice to walk down Haight-Asbury Street of Pikeville. I came away unscathed.
You may disagree with me, but we need more events like this. People who don’t like hippies or the Pride people can stay home. Having an outlet is important and can possibly afford people a sense of inclusion, whether it be hippies or pride people.
Again, if you disagree stay home. If you participate, don’t force your views on people who are not interested. I bet those hippies have the proper medicine to allow people to take a deep breath and not really care about too much.
There may be a lesson learned there.
Thanks for reading the News-Express.
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Read More: Diversity in Pikeville | Opinion
