We're gonna start in and we're gonna start off by introducing my beautiful wife, Lisa didn't, do anything to you, did anything to her, didn't do anything to her. Thank you. Uh that could have been good or bad, trampled me, whatever. Um so I'm so excited to see everybody here today, thank you for coming out, I know everybody who wants to hear what's going on in Parkinson's Pride.
And um you're probably wondering a little bit about why I'm involved and why our sharing audience is involved. Um and at this point I I just wanted to share that the people who are newly involved with Rocket City Pride um I really trust and care and love about. And I would not be advocating for them at this point if I did not think they were capable of turning things around uh with Rocket City Pride and doing right by the community going forward. Um and they know
I will speak out loudly if they don't. But I am asking for everyone here to um listen with open ears and open hearts and open minds today as they share with you their plans and their struggles and just get to know the new board for rocket city pride. Um and the first person that I want everyone to get to meet here today, and some of you already been out in the community getting to meet her, um I'm gonna read their
um bio, and it is Laura. Laura is an attorney with a precise command of the law, a writer drawn to the dark, a macabre and a gamer who prefers strategy over spectacle calm, observant and rarely underestimated twice. She has devoted her life's work to representing marginalised communities and ensuring their voices are not ignored. Laura has s sat as president on two previous non-profit boards and has a
of leaving without theatrics, just resolve patience and an unsettling ability to get results. So let me introduce to you Lauren Herbie, president of Rocket City Arts.
You have to come up here to join us now.
Is that all you do?
So we have everybody. I kinda sprung out on the last second that I wanted them to hop up here with me. Alright uh thank you all for coming out. Um I've met with so many people over in the past four to five weeks um and I see a lot of your faces and I see uh
some of the drag community out there. I've been hitting up those shows as well as well. It's been very um very entertaining um and enjoyable. So just a brief how did I get here? I believe it was Megan Flosha who first introduced me as the new president of Rocket City Pride.
And she said Laura come up here and tell everybody a little bit about yourself when I know she wanted to say Laura come up here and tell everybody who the fuck you are because not everybody knows who you are. So I'm Laura Herbie and I was elected to the board of Rocket City Pride just before Pride Fest of twenty twenty five.
We attended Pride Fest We. had a decent turnout, wasn't as good as yours before given decisions that were made in twenty twenty four.
So after Pride Fest we all had a meeting and we were told that the entire board minus the new people that had been elected would be stepping down.
I waited for some direction and was basically told it would probably be best to dismantle Rocket City Pride.
I didn't think that was the best idea and a couple of people behind me, maybe more than a couple, didn't think that was a good idea either.
I urged the board while it was still intact to make um some apologies to the community to reach out to have difficult conversations and that didn't happen. I offered to sacrifice myself. I'll be I'll be the tribute um and it it didn't happen.
So the board stepped down and I did one of the only things I knew to do.
I leaned on a friend, Jacob Kirkland, and I said come on bitch because I can't do this about you. I can lead, but I don't have the contacts in the community that she does.
So we decided that we would put together a board that we knew would be holding to the community because Rocket City Pride is not about one person. It's definitely not about me.
It is about you, every one of you.
The drag queens, the drag kings, the transgender. You're some of my favourite people.
And so we have reached out and met six seven, groups that I knew and J_Q_ also knew were the most hurt.
Altrac, Trans-North Alabama, P_ flag, free mom hubs, if you remember this thing.
And you were number one.
I'm sorry Erica. We were
sorry Bonnie. It happened. Thank you. So it has been along two weeks. But anyway I, believe it or not uh I don't like talking in front of people even though I do it every day. Um so I'm going to give my social anxiety just a little bit of a risk and um I'm going to introduce you to somebody you know very well.
She comes from a troubled childhood which gives her the resolve and the dedication.
To see who needs the most and reach out to those people with a loving and helping hand.
She's more passionate about this community than just about anybody else I know and I'm proud to call her a friend and the vice president J_Q_ Perklin.
How are you guys doing?
Um so it was important for me to speak because my community's hurt and although there were s were not decisions that I made personally I feel responsible because I am co-founder of Rocket City Pride.
And for that I wanna reach out to my family which is all of you and tell you that I'm deeply sorry that when you spoke up saying you did not want L_C_R_ at Rocket City Pride they were still allowed to be there.
And there's nothing I can do except promise you that I will listen to you from now on with anything you come to us about. And I hope that you understand that we're gonna set this down and we're gonna move forward because we love each other and we want to make this community strong.
A really good friend of mine, child emotional um Vincent Rutherford used to say without community without unity you can't spell community so I've seen circling around how unity's always capitalized in community and that's something that he started and I'm so glad to see it continuing that way.
So if you will, please understand we wanna hear all of your voices. We want to sit and listen to each individual one of you. Um what we do ask is that you let us talk today and then afterwards if you wanna meet with us personally the board is committed to staying and listening to each individual one. We will have question and answer but it's gonna be about the new things we got coming along which we hope that you're excited about. But I do wanna tell you that I love you and that I'm
sorry, and that we are moving forward from this.
Hell yeah.
Alright Um. I do wanna introduce one person, and I'm not gonna make them come up here, but I do say that I'm co-founder of Tennessee Valley Rocky City Pride, which means what? There's another one. And she just so happened to grace us with her presence today. Amy, will you stand up please?
When um a lot of you youngins don't know, but when three to be closed down they were actually the ones running Rocking City Pride at the time, and I took over in two thousand and seventeen when Vincent, please come over here and and acknowledge what we put up and Vincent's mom is sitting right there. Her name is Joanne Rutherford and yeah, for sure I. try to teach her the everyday function that she's willing to
to to keep her active in the community 'cause she calls this her family, which means a lot to me. But um I'm gonna um introduce actually, you're right, let's do let's show you guys what we started with as far as uh
This is our new logo.
I personally was not okay with a rocket because it's too much. I kept screaming astronaut astronaut till Laura woke up and said I was dreaming about an astronaut and then I couldn't go to sleep so this is what we've been been given and I hope you guys like it. Shout out to Daniel Moya for doing the logo for us. Um I do wanna take the time to introduce the board. You guys have met Laura and myself.
This is Michelle. Michelle is a transgender woman living in Huntsville al living in Huntsville, Alabama. She has been transitioning and exploring her sexuality since twenty twenty two and is so happy to get to live her genuine self. When she is not hanging out with her community, she enjoys watching anime, collecting comic books, trading card games, and playing retro video games. Please give it up for Michelle. She is
also our secretary. Alright, now we're gonna move over to Mr. Mason Gunn. He is the treasurer of Rocket City Pride. He is focused on transparency. He is focused on transparency. He is focused on transparency. Right. And he's also our treasurer, focused on transparency. Um he's earning the community's trust through clear, accountable financial
when he is not working on budgets, you can typically find him playing. Yeah, I was told I'd be laughed at if I messed that up. Or whatever game has hooked him in this week. Y'all give it up for Mason. They didn't sit in order, but that's okay, I love 'em anyway. Then we got Caleb A_K_ Hobear. Hobear does not know who Hobear is. Okay, you're gonna
'em okay, You're. gonna know them. They know 'em. You're you're welcome. Uh Hope Beard is D_J_ sound tech and event producer with deep roots and nightlife and performance driven events. With over four years of experience in D_J_'ing drag shows, hosting and M_C_ing karaoke, producing burlesque showcases, Hope Beard knows how to read a room and keep the energy high from door open to last call. Give it up for Hope Beard.
This might look like a familiar face. This is Patrick Haas. Patrick Haas is member at large and brings years of non-profit leadership as well as volunteer experience. He served as treasurer of Rocket City Pride from twenty twenty to twenty twenty three and is a founding committee member and active volunteer for Huntsville's free L_G_B_T_Q_I_A_ plus closet. Here's Shannon. Patrick, also is a drag entertainer is Breez Parkell. Since two thousand and
use a visibility and performance to uplift and support the L_G_B_T_Q_I_ communities. Y'all give it up for Patrick. Do any of y'all know who Carrie is? Okay. Okay. Let me tell you something. Once y'all meet her, you're gonna love her. This is Carrie Arenes, is a life coach, retail ace, alright, and a community activist. Her mission is to plant positive seed of change
consistent basis eliminating competition through collaboration. Y'all get it up for carry-on Excuse me while I turn cheat sheets.
This is a short one Who. knows Okino in here Anybody? Okay, y'all are gonna love him. He's not only cute, but he is so sweet. Okino Humphrey is a Huntsville native looking to expand his impact in the community. Can you guys give it up for Okino? Alright, let's move along with this uh presentation.
We can certainly not fall off the stairs.
Okay, so you see the new logo again. Daniel Hoya um has been my graphic designer for probably about fifteen years. So I'll reach out to him. We don't have to go back uh, but you're ahead. Um yeah. Okay. So he's been my graphic artist for about fifteen years. Um he's done uh multiple things for me. Um but when I finally gave into J_Q_ and said okay, an astronaut, that might work, um the first thing I said
He needs a patch, and it needs to be a heart, and it needs to be the transgender flag because the progress flag is great, but we wanted to give a special nod to the transgender community. Uh that was hurt so much um, and we're here to make amends with. I have two transgender children at home, so the transgender community is very near and dear to my heart.
So once we did the logo, I think it was Ho-beard that coined the term relaunch. Right, so we didn't just redo the logo, we have re-written the by-laws, we have added a code of conduct, we have re-written the we have re-written the mission statement, the value statement, we have uh guiding principles, and all of that will be
for you to review on our new website, which Mason will be talking about shortly. Uh but the code of conduct puts out specific requirements of everybody who's sitting up here in front of you right now.
There will be no infighting. There will be no name calling. There will be no bullying. There will be no harassment. There will be nothing of the sort, and if these people up here, including myself, do not hold themselves out to be hey, go Pats, I know we're here at Super Bowl Sunday. We're what Patriots fans are. Oh, come on now. I lived in Boston for fifteen years. You can't live in New England and not root for the home team. Just work well.
Give us something to make fun of you, you're the thing. Oh my god. I'm not sure you have something to make fun of me about. Um anyway, so we're holding ourselves to the highest standard. Um our b in our by-laws there are the in instructions, for lack of a better word, of how to report behaviors within the board. So I'm not above
call it to TAS. If you review the bylaws, you'll see that if I'm gonna pick on Mason. If Mason does something wrong anybody, can come tell me, they can come tell Jake here, there's a process, it's formal, it's in the bylaws, I didn't read 'em today, I did draft them, but I don't remember them exactly. But let's say it's me, let's say I'm the problem, there's a process for that too, because I should be held to the
highest standard as President of Rocket City Pride.
as an attorney I have a fiduciary duty and as an officer of the court I'm held to the highest standards of being honest and trustworthy. So I take this job as the president of Rocket City Pride extremely seriously and I believe that my fiduciary duty to Rocket City Pride extends to the community. So if anybody ever has at any point an issue with me, here are all the people we
you take it up with. Because it will be fixed. But I promise I'm gonna behave.
Oh my God.
Just a little bit.
And I'm missing anything?
No, I think I think I covered that. Mission vision, vowels, code of conduct Check. check check. Alright, so the mi uh I'm sorry, I don't have to have it. I promise you'll like it. Oh, okay Basic. coming in clutch already. Look at that. Alright, we will get that for Moni.
Okay, so just to be w oh, we have an awesome just to be fair, same hot stands. Okay. Okay. So was that a yes or a no? Okay. Excellent. Excellent. out of sleep.
Okay.
Okay, here's a new mission statement Market. City Pride's mission is to uplift and unite the L_G_B_T_Q_I_A_ plus community by fostering safe, affirming spaces where every person is seen, valued, and supported. Through connection advocacy, and action we work to build a more inclusive, resilient, and joyful community.
Right, and what was the other one? Division.
Market City Pride envisions a society where members of the L_G_B_T_Q_I_A_ plus community live openly and with dignity, supported by communities grounded in respect, compassion, and understanding. A future where differences are met with curiosity rather than fear, where bridges replace barriers, and where every person has a space to belong and thrive.
Again, you'll be able to check out all of that on our website. Mason will be talking about a little more in depth, so turn it over to Mason. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm Mason. I'm the treasurer. Um my main goal is to make sure that we are very transparent and open with all of our financial we don't wanna hide anything behind closed doors.
So on the website at the very bottom you can scroll down and there's gonna be a little piece of text that says financials. You'll click that and then on an quarterly basis we'll be publishing what our total balance is for our account. Um I plan to expand that out a little bit. The website currently is capable of doing events um you can post your own events if you have community events that you wanna share on our website. 'Kay we'll go through an affordable process so one of the board members here will be able to approve it and then we'll go live. Uh the same
performers, um vendors and sponsors, all of that will go through that same process, so nothing's gonna be improved that has to be approved before it ends on our website. Um and for it we're also looking for suggestions on what we need to add to the website and things like that, so feel free to reach out and let us know. Maybe you should email us at info@rocketcitycry.com or you can fill out a contact form as well.
It makes looking absolute. Are we not allowing people to go up to the website and review all the vendors that are going to be at market.
Absolutely. It is part of that process, and it's gonna go on your website. As soon as we get it and we approve them as a vendor, it's all the website and everybody can do it. Um that goes for performers and everyone, so we wanna make sure everything is transparent, and that's basically my goal to approve. Alright Uh. does that come through?
Mm-hmm.
He did a really good job with the website, you guys are gonna love it for real. Thank you all. Thank you very much.
Well let me know if we need to make a meeting if you need me to make some dinner.
Oh no.
Depends on what are you talking about, maybe 'cause uh
No money.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm Uh. oh. Yeah.
Uh I'm Michelle Lascritge, I'm the Secretary of Prophecy of Pride, I can go over the social media, so uh the Facebook, the Instagram, et cetera Uh. so one of the issues we had in previous um year was a lot of we observed a lot of outrage around protest, obviously, and uh it's a result of some that a lot of people got blocked on the socials. Um so we had an action back from meeting meeting of almost one year ago to review the banned
on the Facebook. So I've completed that um, took through going through that, had some of just the basic stats here. There was about sixty people on the block list sixty seven. Uh I went and reviewed them all by hand to make sure um that all the community members um would be possible to back out of that list. Uh it was also half um half of people were s we just opened someone's Facebook, you shouldn't be able to see
first ten pages, but you can, unfortunately. So um a lot of people were left on the block list. People I couldn't find are or couldn't you know, just posted pictures of the dogs there on block two. So I was unable to unlock fifty percent of people off that block list. Um hoping to air towards um unlocking more people. So if I like to meet people through, I'll I'll be monitoring the social support in transphobia, homophobia, to go up there and uh you know,
gonna block those uh re-offenders for sure Uh. so we do have um we're gonna try and post on the the socials some, you know, celebrate some events that are announced by History Month. So we're gonna have some, you know, support recommendations there. Um
and just hoping to move that back to more of a positive space Um. this work we've been secured a little, negative, added, and rightfully so. I'm very defensive out of the proxy project side of that um exchange. So I think uh I expect it to be better moving forward.
So something we'd like to look forward to posting and announcing on uh that Facebook sometime soon is the enterprise fest. So we have we have the date picked out for the next enterprise fest Saturday, October third. Um we got Butler green um on eight O_ five, campus eight O_ five for that. So we can use that, you know, the process that's nicely described to, you know, vet and add all those vendors, but look forward to information for that come forward 'cause, you know, as a consumer of pride, always look forward to the
it's um it's you know great something to do outside of Union because that would power some of the students and it's looking forward to having that again this year. So then next we move to opening the floor for Q_ and A_, and I'll just hold it in like maybe for that, assign it as a partner as a partner.
Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you so much.
Thank you so much. Thank you for going to the subject and I see you guys all right, so I'm just gonna respond and evaluate it. And I saw you doing a lot of that, and I can sort of hey, I see you're hurting, you were trying to get at her, like a lot of it. I don't know if 'cause I had a lot of things to do, but they both made fun of me. So I saw the work you were making me do.
And and yeah, people that like I recognize at least three people on block list day one and and cut them out immediately and sent little little things. But also there's f a fifty percent bad review for the page right now, and each of those has a hurt. So it's gonna take me a while to go through each of those hurts and write a little something in between that about how we that could change uh from those from that era where we would cause a lot of previous hurt. But it's an ongoing thing for sure.
I appreciate it so much.
Okay. Well uh hang on, I'm working on getting another wireless thingy going.
I I also wanted to um
What's this one?
Um I also wanted to acknowledge that we are on Facebook live and I know that there were a pretty good bit of people that were popping up on there. I'm not sure where we're at now. Do you have a number?
No.
'Kay. We do have frequently asked questions.
Well I can answer the second one. Um I heard through the grapevine at the last community meeting that um specifically an attorney was asked for in case we ran into that again with L_C_R_. So once that once I heard that I knew somebody that would be perfect for the job and she's sitting to my right right now and I'm asked her to apply for a board position she got on the board and I'm pretty sure she'll do whatever she can to make
sure we're in legal standing 'cause if not she could get in trouble. So way to trap 'em. Anybody have questions about the third one? Okay well we're trying to find the best way to handle that and at first at first we said absolutely no political parties, but that would put a strap on out-track. Now we don't wanna shut out out-track.
So I'll let you take how you're gonna handle that one or something.
Do we have anybody from out-track here? Okay. So we initially said it's gonna be easy, just no political parties. We don't let any political parties in and we're not gonna have to deal with that again, but out-track when we sat down and talked to them made a very good point.
they are very involved with politics and they want a chance to come out to Pride Fest and hobnob, shape how do you say it shape, babies and kids' hands yeah, Um. and to say no political parties whatsoever would draw two faints of a line between the people we don't want and the people that we want. And so we listened and we did a little research
And what we're going to do is we are going to individually vet out, as Michelle did at this past Pride in twenty twenty five, each individual sponsor before their they appear on the website. We're going to let groups like Al track in so long as their goal aligns with our mission and vision statement.
That's the plan going forward. And it's going to be public, it's going to be on the website, and if anybody sees anyone who is a vendor listed at any event on any day, that is not appropriate, contact one of your board members and we will take care of it within twenty four hours.
All right now Jessica's gonna walk around. I feel like we answered the other questions, but if I it wasn't transparent enough, please feel free to ask us anything and we'll answer the best we can.
Sorry I, got a wrap for you all.
Well, so much Like. I just because we're executive board doesn't mean that they don't take an active role in every decision that we make. It's not fair for poor people to run the community organization. They we've got who geared who has his hands out towards all the drag community, which needs to be heard. Um you got Patrick who is part of the drag community. Okeino he's wanting to put him
self more out there and be at events and host them, that's he's trying to come out of his comfort zone. He's wanting to help more within the community and I promise you that once you get to know Carrick Carey, let me just give you the mic for a minute and you just do what you do best.
I'm here to have a good time. I don't do drama, I don't do back and forth, we said it straight, we have conversations, we are transparent.
And we about love. I don't care who you fuck. Okay. That's where it comes down to. I'm just here for a good time and a good clean time.
Oh Carrick.
Next question. Did that answer your question? Okay. They have just as much of an important role as us, we just, you know, I don't think if you just talk more.
Yeah.
What did you say I'm, sorry? Yeah they, do the fun part of everything, we do the hard part of everything and it's an even balance 'cause they're more fun than we are.
Next question.
So I know that there are corporations that have L_G_B_T_Q_ groups but some of those corporations also fund um murder basically across the C_C_s. Genocide, that is the word. What is the plan in regards to s like are you willing to still take sponsorships to fund groups like that? Or is that something that we would say we're trying to talk later still?
Can we start with the fuck guys?
Was that one too far?
No.
No no no no. Those bones are perfect, not too deep. Yes.
Again, in line with our value and our mission statement, the dollar is not worth your feelings. It's not worth your save-step.
Yes sir.
can I just let me just add something inherent. I just because I sat you're not no, absolutely no, I love hell yeah. Uh I just wanna say, somebody who sat in the midst of craziness on this board, that when things happen, if money is given and they don't know about it, that you inform them and you help them to correct things when that happens. Uh and I know that they will listen
time. So just I am asking for patience with them because I know that will be different. So
Thank you Jessica. And on that I'm gonna say this Facebook, is Satan. I don't care. I I'm sorry for anybody that loves it and lives on it. I keep it because I keep track of my wife and my kids because she posts all the pictures and the memories that pop up. But if you have a problem, if I have a problem, I promise you I will not go to Facebook about it. Anybody in here that knows me personally knows if I have a problem with you, I'm gonna come to you. And I ask that you do the same thing. And if you do
I promise you I will t handle it with kit gloves, I will respect you, I will listen to you, and we will fix the problem. And I know everybody on this board feels the same way.
Next question from me.
When will the new website be up and running? Because as of five minutes ago when you f um Google rocket city pride dot com, it comes up with a mix. Um
if you go to the website and you take off the W_W_W_ dot, it will take you to the new website. It is a brand new website and it was a little rushed in the last minute to get everything live. Um so we're still working on some things on that. But if you go to just rocketcitypride dot com, you'll be directed right there. I haven't set up the B_N_S_ records for the forwarding of the W_W_W_ and stuff like that. Technical stuff.
You went over there?
I don't have a question.
You're right. Tanesha?
How do you say they all? Do you know what I'm? thinking just a little out of a couple more. Hey um I have a question um it's too cold. Um when you redrafted the by-laws, how much of your original material were you able to keep and how much of it did you have to basically build from scratch? If you could talk a little bit about that process.
Yeah, absolutely. Um just with any other legal document, in a set of bylaws there's a lot of boiler plate language language that is repetitious and will appear in just about any bylaws from any corporation um that you come across. Uh so I'm going to say, if I had to take a guess, maybe forty forty five percent, mainly the boiler plate, um the way we vote is different, the way we interact with the community is
The standards that we hold each other to um are different. The way um we allow the community to interact with us uh is completely different. The code of conduct is brand new. There are things in there such as how many people must be on the bank account, how often the bank account must be released, even if it's not asked for, how many hours we have to
the bank account if you want it during a time period that it isn't automatically released. I think I said that right. So we're gonna release it for example, we're gonna release it quarterly, but in between quarters, if you don't like something that you have seen heard or maybe you are just curious, you can ask for it and we have I think it's twenty four hours to give you the balances and I think it's forty eight to review recent transactions.
things like that are brand new. Um transparency, if uh if we've said it once, we've said it ten thousand three hundred and seventy two times because, that is absolutely what we are striving for and, we wrote we re-wrote the by-laws to make sure transparency uh was really the main focus. Because again, we are here for you and you're not here for us. You know, you don't answer
us we answer to you and uh the by-laws give hopefully uh the community some peace of mind in how we're going to respond and how quickly we have to do so.
Thank you Um. my second question if you don't mind um I've noticed that it's a even number of people on the board um so do you mind talking about like how you address quorum and what to do with with a tie-breaker?
We one hundred percent will address that shortly. Y'all see another chair up here.
Baron, I thank you so much for that.
I understood everything that was in the by-laws. There was no gaps, there was no misunderstandings, it was very transparent, very this is what to expect and this is what we'll give you. So if you overlook 'em and don't if you look over 'em and don't feel that way, let 'er know.
Thank you. Next question?
Um I'm pretty new here as far as like the remote foundation here in Alabama, so I don't really know the backgrounds of the new growing L_C_R_ nor, do I know what L_C_R_ stands for.
Log cabin republic.
And s
Republican, sorry see, hell I didn't even know what the fuck it stands for. I don't pissed a lot of my friends off.
Do do we want the short synopsis?
Sure the, short synopsis is they've been very vocal about not liking trans people, so fuck 'em.
Yeah.
Yes, so they they are a organization and it is uh simply gay republicans, um but they speak out about uh anti-trans laws and other things that hurt our community. Uh-huh. Yes. Okay Any. other questions? Okay I'll, come back.
Sorry I, actually just wanted to offer a point like uh it just makes sure I'm totally clear uh because what we're doing on the slide is political parties. Um and I just wanna point out that ALTRAC is not um a political party, we're not even like a 501 C_ three or a PAC or anything like that. We're like so grassroots um we're basically just like seven wrappings in the fact that uh so I just I wanted to make clear that like thi the delineation isn't like 501 C_ four, 501 C_ th whatever whatever, but like
if we're uh endorsing like a candidate who's I mean could be democrat, could be libertarian, could be whatever, um then that's cool and, the deciding factor is just values missing statement, et cetera.
I think you're me in the meetings with uh ALTRAC you stated politics, not political parties. I think that that's a little bit of a confusion there, but there was there was no politics across the board and then uh you changed it to what it is now.
Yeah, I I think that when we were making these slides, it would have been a lot better if we used the same language that we used in the meeting. But yes, politics. And I forget um honestly who is the who Alice, Alice that was the one with the fabulous energy Yes. okay, I could I could talk to her all day long. I just love her. But she was very uh detailed in her explanation and I believe
when we concluded that meeting, we were all on a very, you know, eye level same, understanding of what it would look like if they wanted to attend Pridefest. So yes, I I appreciate you pointing that out. Um, Altraq could bring us any political party because they're not political party, they're politics. Did you get that from Louise? So I apologise for the wording on this slide.
I don't want to get you. Okay, we have the next question right here. Hi.
Hi. So this is a bit uh too fond as well. Um, I I think it's safe to say that in this room and in this R_P_D_ there are not just a lot of hurt feelings, but a lot of mistrust. So not just toward the organisation, but even toward the new members who are sitting on this board. And I wanted to ask because we see a new logo, we see a new board, we see new faces, and and that's that's fantastic It. the rebrand is probably more needed than we really understood it was.
For a great many of us in this room we had no idea that the entire board had stepped down. We had no idea that it was gonna be president. We had no idea that any of this was taking place before for many of us the last week. And I think for some of us in this room, even during the entire board has stepped down and tried to display the organisation. This may have been the first time they've heard this. It was never posted to any of the socials, the website, nothing was changed. So my question is what do you say to the people who right
feel distrustful towards you, because the transparency not only has not been there, but because that transparency has not been there, it feels like some of these changes may appear more as a fix.
I I just wanna say that I appreciate the question. Don't don't trust me. Watch me. The community the community deserves the best. And I can tell you that all day long, and some people in here know me and know where my heart is, I don't know you, you're not even sharing your face with me, but I can tell by your eyes you're really cute, but um.
I can't ask you to walk by faith and not by sight. Watch us. I've been doing this since two thousand seventeen, and this is the most excited I've been since two thousand eighteen.
I just wanna say one thing. Um I think there comes a time when you have to understand that we have to earn it back from you two, and that we'll take time. We're gonna be here for um before I start crying uh, the end all be all is uh I know as long as I'm here with these people and they're over there with those people, we're gonna be with you at the same time. And we're getting through it every day. You know what it is. Um and I also hear that you're saying that the uh social media wasn't updated as quickly as it possibly could now.
I love hearing that type of uh feedback. That's the only way to get better. And that hasn't been an open communication line for us at any moment, for a long time. Um and I look forward to hearing more stuff like that, because
if you need it, that's the only way we're gonna get better. And we're gonna do it tonight.
Thank you.
Was there more to that question? I'm sorry.
Hold on Hold. on.
Push, push then.
The the second on to that, sorry, was what actions can you state for this time that would be your first good faith measure to show us that this isn't just on us?
Um I that's a great question.
I have an answer to that one. Sorry.
Uh okay, I absolutely.
Yeah.
Okay, we're gonna start people reading them now.
She was uh this amazing human over here, Laura and and J_Q_. But listen, they had been meeting with like half of Huntsville for uh feels like the past like a month. Just every day there's another thing. And if that's not at least some step in the right direction, it's a good little faith step in my opinion. And all I'm gonna say is they're gonna keep doing it. We're gonna keep doing it, keep meeting with people. And that is a good step in the right direction. And if we can do more, we're always open to listening to that. So
Yeah.
That's a good one.
oh so um they did not release the information very quickly however, the meeting started on what was it th th th god damn two weeks ago and it was in the first people they met were Monty and I. Because we have been very loud and very obnoxious for a while and their first thing was hey we're gonna start meeting with you let's make this list. And so a lot of these updates weren't our news to share but they were trying to come to the most directly impacted
people and the most vocal first. So that is what gave me the the faith to go ahead and say alright, I like this. And they also have want people I don't know up here who they trust and people I do know up here who I do I trust. So we can't just jump in and throw our all our trust in now, but they did take initial steps that have been giving me the faith to say this is the changes we need.
Okay.
Hello everybody, I have no question, but I just wanna give a little feedback on voters that say I do like um what you said, it's a walk by faith and not my side, and I'm gonna say I personally appreciate the moment inside, because with Soviet attack happening publicly, the enemy is always right there watching, trying to see the next movie, so with this being caught on the line
fact, there was no way that they could get in to know what's happening. So thank you. Thank you. So I know that this community had a lot of problems with reaching out and that was a big thing, but we just not pretty much ghosted on communication. And even now since since then I I I don't know, it's not like they're gonna review social media and things. There's been communication that's been out there.
What
without putting it on us and and blaming us for trying to reach out and saying hey your, community did reach out to us when we did. And and understanding that how does this board want to get feedback from your community and take that because there there's been social media there's, an email that was out there for y'all. And personally I said things to it and never received anything back and I I'm I'm sure that that's not that's a s a singular event.
How how are y'all going to go forward and make sure that when there's something that comes up that needs communication or some communication from your commu your community members, that will be addressed and that won't just be a good word.
And I and I apologise, I I've looked through the the email in in brief as well. There's a lot there's, a lot back there and it was it was left a bit stagnant in um in the wake of a block having public and stuff and then in the change over where it was um, you know, really really changing. So um I I'd say, you know, you can send anything to the to the Facebook, to the to the Instagram, to the uh to the email, and I'm gonna try and and start monitoring that and it's gonna
a while to get through down to the back log, but it is something that's that would not be done that that just simply is is for starting and like looking at the other thing.
I'm getting I wanna see 'cause someone who was on the board when all of that happened, right?
But we were told not to communicate.
So
they now have a social media policy that says to communicate, if anything to over-communicate um and I'm going to trust that they're gonna follow that. We're all gonna call them out on it, right?
Yeah.
And I could just also say, in a little bit of a more light hearted tone, um we have a lot of gamers on this board. We are always in front of our computers. We are going to see the messages we're going to have the monitor. And I would be happy anybody who thinks that that's not going to be sufficient, I'll be happy to give you my personal cell phone number, my office number, you can reach out any time and contact me directly.
And I believe I gave my phone number to every organisation we sat down and spoke with. And if I didn't, if I didn't, it is two five six five zero nine zero six zero eight.
Can you repeat that? Go stand with me.
Are you gonna write it down or you just won't wanna talk to me?
Forty five.
Alright, it's two five six five zero nine zero six zero eight. Make sure you tell me who you are and don't call because I won't answer, but if you text me, I promise you I will respond.
I'm here for a lot of questions. I'm here for a lot of questions.
Is it on time? Okay.
Can I call you down?
That's kind of a well so it's not really a question um that's kind of to the individual that was speaking and referencing uh the new R_C_D_ loop moving in silence. As somebody who was on the previous board as interim president and previous president, that's one thing that I actually wanted them to do, so that way they wouldn't be bombarded with a lot of community questions and feedback, just so that way they can have the uh time to actually rebrand do what they need to do and come to the community full-sludge and transparently
have been saying so far. So as somebody who was in previous leadership, I think y'all are doing a great job thus far.
Thank you, Brandon. And I am gonna say this because I wasn't on the fucking board at the time, so I'm gonna put this out there. The people that were leading that board silenced the board. So not everybody on the board is at fault and to blame, and I'll say that and I'll love every one of you and I'll stand by that.
the board was silenced I'll. even go a greater distance and explain to you why I know that the board was silenced It. I woke up with a passion if you those of you that don't know the Vincent Rutherford equality march is something that I created when Vincent passed away in two thousand seventeen.
If you don't believe me and his mom's right there, you can ask her 'cause a lot of people don't believe that. So I woke up with a burning passion to give something that the parade at Huntsville's never had besides a trailer being pulled behind the truck and that was a float.
And I set out and I raised the money to purchase a float. And I did it. And I raised money to have it painted. And I pulled it behind my truck in the parade. And I'm also co-founder of Bay Pride in Panama City that's now dismantled because they ran into a lot of problems. But the other co-founders called me one day and said hey J_Q_ we have this Mardi Gras float if you don't come get it we're getting rid of it. How much?
Nothing just come get it. So I got my big ass in the truck well actually my wife's path finder, drove to Panama City and pulled this big float across the state of Alabama.
let that sink in for a minute, okay. I drove this huge ass float across the state of Alabama and, this is something I've been wanting to tell the community for a long time that I've been denied so, I'm I'm taking the time.
You're right baby.
Yeah.
I pulled that float into Lockay off uh off of Clinton Avenue. Everybody knows where that is. That's where the parade starts. My big bunch ass driving that big ass float up through Lockay to drive through the city and wave. Happy Pride! Pictures being taken. New stations were there. Somebody that was pissed off at Bay Pride got in touch with Rocket City Pride and said, Jake, you
stole that float. My son, he's gonna walk in and talk 'cause he can't go without being the center of attention sometimes. Um so the president at the time of Rockin' City Pride called me and said, well JQ, how did you get this float? How did you get the floats? And man I, let me tell you, I woke up with this burning desire and I went and got one and then when I was offered
better one that Mardi Gras people built, I would buy it, okay. The next month I went to the parade and the float, the board got on the float, I started talking to people hey, anytime you all wanna use this Christmas parade, St. Patrick's Day, just let me know, it's the community's float.
People were not talking to me about it. People that I'm really close to were not talking to me about it. Like they were ashamed to say anything or scared to say something. Well I'm not an idiot. I'm no attorney. I'm no engineer and I'm no gamer. But after working with this community for so long, I put two and two together. Sorry guys, I'm putting you all on the blast. Some of my
closest friends being Jessica and Brandon signed M_D_A_s to not tell me that I supposedly stole this float that I drove across the state of Alabama
with my family and my friends in the car
that I pulled through the city
behind police officers and a stolen thirty thousand dollar float.
They couldn't come to me and tell me. Instead to even be able to find out what the meeting was about before they could show up they, had to sign an M_D_A_. Now how fucking ridiculous is that for this community?
Y'all wanna know why y'all ain't seen me in a while? Because I tell my wife everything, as I'm sure Jessica tells her wife everything, as I'm sure Brandon tells people that he's close to everything.
Those people didn't sign M_D_A_s.
I wasn't ashamed 'cause I didn't fucking do anything at all. Guess what I have, a bill of sale.
Guess what I have. The receipt from the float being built. Guess what else I have. A deed signing in and over to Rocket City Pride. But guess what I never gave 'em and I'm so fucking glad I didn't That's. the kind of board. That's the kind of leadership, I guess is the correct thing to say, that was the board. So when you ask me how you can trust me, because I've been where you're at. The only difference is is I didn't speak ill will
it because I had to do what I could do to be there for the community and to make sure that Rocket City Pride didn't go to shit.
I gave one of my best friends over so she could represent the organization that at the time went to shit.
And had she not been there, it's safe to say neither would Rocket City Pride.
So when you ask me if you can trust me, I've been there. And I'm sorry. Genuinely sorry.
Uh yes, uh we're gonna pass it over to Ho Beard for him to do something that's very very exciting to us.
Oh cool.
Listen. I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing right now, but are we gonna have a good time?
Thank you. See, a little little help from the DJ booth. That's only where I'm at, but I like it when you're over there too. Listen guys, I didn't know what I'm supposed to be doing here and I'm just gonna take time to talk for a second. I kind of wanted to do this for a long time 'cause this has been a long time co
You got this. You're all off the emotional. You got this game.
Can I get an attitude check?
Whoo see, I wanted to do that for a long time while standing here on this stage and say it feels good to have a chance to have Pride back. It really does.
Like now I'm gonna walk over here and find out what I'm actually doing. Do we figure out what I'm actually doing?
Look at this, guys. I figured it out. Sometimes you figure it out on the fly, okay? We got it together. Everybody say, oopsies. Thank you. Okay, listen. So if you remember what happened back in the day, um long story short, we had some amazing queens that um earned royalty um and then eventually stepped down because of what was going on. And they're very near and dear to my heart.
Um and so um we're basically going to redo this in a way, if that makes sense. Um coming up there's going to be a winter formal event at a um very near and dear place to my heart Maggie, Meyers, if you have been there. Um it's gonna be a great time and at that event we are going to take time to honour the two people that ended up stepping down Megan and tempest. Um.
get up.
Get up.
And we'll be giving them the titles back as meritists because we'll talk about that stuff at some point, but um it's probably gonna stick with you guys for a while because you deserve it at least. After all the shit you've been through for real make, some noise for these two.
if nothing else they, stood with you guys and for you guys for real. They they were two of the biggest proponents of what ended up helping Rainbow Trouble come together and form a pride so that we could have one that year. Um it was really fun to be a part of that too and it felt like them kind of putting their crowns down really gave us a way to, I don't know, connect with the drag community and also show that we were
gonna stand together and not take what was being done here at the bride, um and I'm gonna end off talking now by just saying a few other things uh that um this kinda feels like a long time coming, right?
Right.
Whoo. So
it kinda feels like a little bit of a good apology, right.
I called a lot of people that were out behind me in the past, not these people, but the people that were in the chairs before them out really hard and fought for them to leave for a long time and it feels like a very good apology to be here right now.
Yes.
Yeah.
And I wanna just say one thing, and this is the most important thing for me while being up here is that um as long as we all have pulses and we're on this board, you can talk to us like people. You can come up to us, we'll hug your neck, we're gonna be your friends, we're gonna be people that care about you, and we're going to be there for you and speak to your face. And if you have anything you ever wanna tell us, you got J_Q_'s number already, I mean you can have mine too, I'll answer it
on Instagram. No, that's not what they say. But nevertheless, listen, we're here for you and if nothing else, thank you for giving us this chance today for real. It means a lot. And one more time, if you didn't learn it last time, you heard it from a neighbor, right? You learned it now, right? And they get an attitude check. And that's what I'm talking about. One more time, make some noise for me.
I don't know. Sorry. Bye-bye.
Hey everyone, my name is Molly Blunt Um. I've been doing things in the community since at least twenty twenty one. I started out with these trans family support services and after I was released from their services I joined the Rockin City Medical Collective. I became a board member on Weird Kids with Jessica um and I have continued doing this work and trying to be here for my community. And I wanna say I have worked with J_Q_ for years.
I know J_Q_. I know whole beard. I've seen Michelle around, and I am learning the new faces.
Ru uh Rockin City Medical Collective was the group who called Rockin City Pride out.
Because we knew they could be better. We knew they could do better.
We deserved better.
It led to a lot of negativity and a lot of hai the hatred and yelling and s hurt. But at the same time, I feel a lot of pride and a lot of respect for the fact that the board has come back together and said let's be better So. for whatever it's worth, for those of you who have seen me before, I will I will give them my stamp of approval.
Whoo-hoo!
Thank you, Bonnie.
Following that up, I just wanna let you know I had this whole idea.
Who here signed this? This is the petition.
Yeah. Yeah, I'll try to make it. I think it's worth it to come along.
The out-track petition is out there. Can we call it the out the out-track petition?
Yeah.
So I had this whole idea of I wanted to put these names up here. So I could say thank you.
Thank you for being the voice the community needed.
I was told it probably wasn't a good idea for various reasons, and I'm thankful that I had a transgendered member on my board to correct me where I would have mis-stepped. So we didn't post the names from this petition, but I have read every single one of them This. is what we need. This is what the community needs. People who are not afraid to put themselves out there and ask for change.
Always stand up to injustice. Always speak, even if your voice shakes.
Especially if your voice shakes. So one thing that we haven't talked about, I'm gonna talk about very briefly because it's still a work in progress.
I had the last meeting or the most recent I should say because I plan on meeting with everybody that I can. But I had the most recent meeting with Laura Uselton of Community Pride Alliance, and I had that meeting by phone this morning at ten A_M_.
And that meeting was about the parade, and right now that's a rather contentious subject, but one that J_Q_ has a whole lot of passion about.
Last year, Community Pride Alliance put on the parade, and it was supposed to come back to Rocket City Pride this year.
Community Pride Alliance registered for the parade
right before Rocket City Pride registered for the parade.
And wouldn't you do that? The city goes with whoever registered the parade first.
Well, I don't mind fighting.
I can be rather contentious. I am an attorney after all.
However, I got on the phone with Laura Uselton this morning and I said, I would love to work with you.
And it's not just because you have something that I want.
It's also because I cannot stand up here and ask for unity if I'm not willing to give it myself.
And so we had a good conversation, I would say forty five minutes, maybe an hour.
Rocket City Pride will put on the parade next year.
Laura thinks that we need a year to prove ourselves and see me standing here. Watch me prove it to you. I am ready to rise to that occasion.
In the meantime, we will collaborate with Community Pride Alliance on the parade for this year.
I want everybody to march in that parade.
Everybody.
For Vincent, for Vincent's mom, for all the transgender community, for the drag kings, the drag queens, the drag things, the pansexuals, I only look straight.
Everybody bring, your iguana. I'd love to see your iguana.
So we are going to collaborate and I wanna say this I, appreciate that Bonnie stood up. I went to Rainbow Trouble first.
They were born out of Rocket City Pride's mistakes.
Rocket City Pride made mistakes. Rocket City Pride made additional mistakes when they didn't admit to their mistakes.
So many of you
started
a whole new thing.
I don't want you to go away. I'm not coming back I'm I we are not coming back asking them to go away. That is part of the fabric of our society now.
So is so is Trans North Alabama.
Who is it? Rainbow Trouble, Trans North Alabama, P_ flag, Free Mom Tubs, Altrac. That's the fabric of our community. Rocket City Pride, we're gonna be the thread. We're gonna be the thread that holds everybody together.
J_P_ talks about this a lot more than I do because she's lived in Alabama, most of her is all they're on.
Uh thirty years, more than some of you have been along. Um and unfortunately I haven't been here the whole time. So I lean on her a lot for the history.
But now I think we are ready to look to the future and I hope that everybody will stay and let me meet you meet, our board, ask us more hard questions, but I wanna thank everybody for coming and supporting us and I hope we can all work together in the future.
Now give it up for Laura.
So this next introduction is very exciting to me.
I've had a vision for this whole community coming together, whether it was organizations for the trans community, whether it was organizations for youth groups, whether it was organizations for pansexuals, DJs, queens. It doesn't matter, we're all the same, the same blood runs through us. I like that. Um so this next introduction uh introduction is near and dear to my heart and I know that everybody's gonna be excited and if you're not excited, please tell me
because I've never found anything wrong with this person except they're a little conceited sometimes, but um sometimes. But I'm gon I'm gonna not delay any longer and I'm gonna welcome our ninth member of Rocket City Pride, Jessica Cotton.
Hey, in in case you guys don't know when, Rocket City Pride didn't back down from L_C_R_, this bitch right here stood up and said not to my people.
Alright.
Let's do this again, let's do it better this time. Okay. Let's try. We're gonna we're gonna do better. Thank you, I appreciate all of you for trusting me uh in whatever capacity. Um and I'm just really excited to be here and I will probably cry. Uh so uh all the time I am a crier. Um so the iguanas they are some of my
animals and I appreciate you always, men. Um I feel right being here on the board with these wonderful people, some that I'm just now getting to know. Y'all are hilarious. I can't wait. Uh and the rest that I have already built really great relationships with um and I really want you to see that they are working for you and working for our community and um I look forward to continued collaboration uh and I promise you that I will always have some fun in
uh, and probably customers.
I think the best way out of here is always putting me at five. If you guys don't take anything away from this, I do wanna address one other thing, I'm sorry. We did not hold election. What we did was we tried to bring people on that we knew and we trusted. Uh, as I stated, I asked Laura to apply before the old board stepped down, and when she didn't have a V_P_, she picked me, and then she asked me who I wanted.
And who I wanted was worried about their how busy they were, and I understand that they're gonna be on the auxiliary board, but I asked them who they suggested because, I trusted their opinion, and they picked Patrick.
We asked Michelle, Michelle who, do you want? It wa I think thirty less than thirty seconds, a response? Less than three seconds, she stated Hobierd.
You got home here. Um and then we asked Carrie we asked Mason but Mason said all I do is work and play video games so but we we asked Carrie and Carrie said you know what I, think I know somebody and that's how we got Okino. So this board was kind of big and I can personally say like us I'm not a I'm not a easy person to like or love because I'm very guarded and protected and you don't get to see who I
am if I don't trust you. But I can tell you that I love and respect everybody sitting on this board. And Jessica was a no-brainer. No-brainer. We knew exactly who we wanted because it's all about bringing our community together and who better to sit on the board than somebody with fucking shenanigans.
With with shenanigans.
Please we we plan on staying I don't have anywhere I have to be. I'll stay until the last person walks out of here that and their all their questions are answered. I can't speak for the rest of the board. I know that there was time allotted to answer your questions if you don't have comfortable asking here. But please come up and talk to me. Um I wanna hear every comment, concern, and everything going on, okay? Yes.
And one more thing. I'm gonna help Jake here out here when she doesn't have her wits about her polling.
family's not here um, but her family is. I see my girlfriend right there. Say hello to everybody. I'm trying to steal her just so you know. She is all mine. That's Jake Hughes' wife. Her kids are over here at Addison Island. I just wanna thank them for letting me steal Jake Hughes almost every night for the past three nights as we work on this and put this together.
Three nights? Oh. It's been a while.
Thank you all for being here. Absolutely. And if y'all ever questioned what this woman means to me, I fought for ten years for my little girl over there and she's the only one that was ever able to follow through and give her to me. She also over-seen me adopting my son Riley.
do one more spouse shout-out over here? I just need y'all to know that Kim was never for me being on Rocket City Pride's board originally. It was like whatever you wanna do, I'll respect it. She was adamantly opposed to L_C_R_. She wanted that shit shut down immediately upon finding out. Uh it was uh she had very strong opinions. Um and and she's one of the most supportive spouses y'all will ever meet and I'm very thankful for her. But when we started
talking about this, she was like, yes, do it. Sh do it. So thank you Kimberly, for supporting me, we're all here to help, for sitting in meetings with us, and for all the wonderful things that you do.
I'm really glad that you said that, because there is one vital
part of this board, is we're putting together an auxiliary board and Kim is actually heading that up.
Yeah.
'Cause she's amazing.
So we are going to have the board move to the green room, uh that is the door with the joggers on it sign in the hallway. If you would like to meet with them privately, this is the time to do that, where we can take down phone numbers and y'all can get some phone calls back. Um if y'all would give the board just a few minutes to come through, hug people and all of that good stuff, and then they're gonna head to the green room, we'll start online outside the green room door where you can uh meet with them individually.
Uh so you guys can move to the lobby, we do have another event coming in here, about three thirty. So that's what we're doing now. Board's going to the green room.
Home board's gonna smoke a cigarette.
Yeah, I know I know I'm gonna smoke a cigarette, I know I'm gonna smoke a cigarette. Where'd it go?
Home board, did you hear that about the last stream? Michelle's gonna stop the last stream. Somebody stop it, okay.