Locals explain importance of Bowling Green Pride

BOWLING GREEN Ky. – BG Pride is this weekend and the owner and manager of Landon’s Sugar Shack are excited to be a safe and inclusive place for the local 18 and up LGBTQ community to congregate between events.

The brainchild of Landon Marsh and a few friends including Justin Barnett, a local drag queen under the name Rita Room. The restaurant and bar has cemented itself as the only gay bar in Bowling Green which has made it an important part of the culture here in south central Kentucky.

“It feels so surreal just being a gay male in the community as well, being able to like, provide this for the community, it’s so surreal just that we have our own space to go to and feel comfortable and just feel accept and welcomed because, you know, just getting these days and times so many places aren’t accepting,” Marsh said.

The Sugar Shack is also a local meeting point for the drag community in Bowling Green, a community under a great deal of scrutiny both nationally and regionally after neighboring Tennessee banned public drag performances. Many feel like their ability to express themselves is being hindered, but some such as Barnett have taken it upon themselves to pick up to torch and be an activist for the community through working with groups such as Drag Out The Vote, a group working to sign people up to vote.

“It’s empowered me to do more personally. And through my being fueled, I have fueled others. I feel like to get more involved and to take more of a stance than they probably have ever taken. So, you know, you think the empowerment leads to stifling us. It just makes us want to be louder,” Barnett said.

BG Pride has been growing year after year and even though there are almost always protester Barnett says they do what they can to show love to everyone. This year though, even among many bars that are openly accepting and affirming, the LGBTQ community here in Bowling Green has a place they can truly call home.

“We have somewhere to turn to that we know not just on one weekend out of the month or out of the year, really, we have somewhere to go constantly and you know, that’s something that’ll make this year even more special,” Barnett said.