Why Colgay Pride canceled Diversity Saturday events in Columbus
Colgay Pride has canceled its Diversity Saturday programming for the rest of the year because of difficulty in providing heightened security requirements, according to a letter by its executive director and founder, Jeremy Hobbs.
Diversity Saturdays, which began in Columbus about 11 years ago, provide a space for LGBTQ community members to “exist,” Hobbs told the Ledger-Enquirer.
“Columbus, Georgia, does not have LGBTQ-owned or LGBTQ-oriented spaces — no bars, no community centers, no arts venues, no gathering places where our people can simply show up and be themselves without fear or judgment,” he said.
The program typically includes a daytime advocacy and community-building segment from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Hobbs said, and hosts LGBTQ vendors, artisans, spiritual leaders and small-business owners. In the evenings, the gatherings transition into “block-party atmosphere”, with music, dance contests, family-friendly activities and giveaways for kids and adults, he said.
These Colgay Pride events allow participants to build support networks and friendships, he said.
“At times, we’ve had as many as 400 people gathered on Broadway,” Hobbs said. “It could get lively, but it was always safe, always positive, and always free. That has been our guiding principle from day one: as long as our community has nowhere else to go, we will never charge them to exist.”
Difficulty in securing off-duty officers
Colgay Pride had reserved dates for April through December for the event at the Chattahoochee Amphitheater.. The group had secured one off-duty officer through the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office,
This officer was confirmed at the standard rate of $53 per hour for a five-hour event, Hobbs said, which would cost the organization around $250.
After securing the officer for the April event, Hobbs said, the Columbus Parks and Recreation Department told him Colgay Pride is now required to have two officers present.
“That instantly doubled the cost to roughly $500 just for security,” Hobbs said. “For an organization like ours, which receives very limited vendor income — usually around $300 total — and provides every service for free to the community, that cost is simply impossible to absorb.”
This “two-officer minimum” is a long-standing safety standard for the Columbus Police Department, Lt. Kelly Phillips, chief of staff for Chief Stoney Mathis, told the Ledger-Enquirer in an email.
“Assigning a single officer to any large public gathering is a safety risk — both for the officer and for the public they are sworn to protect,” Phillips said. “This is not a new rule, nor is it specific to this event; it is the baseline for ensuring a scene can be managed professionally and safely.”
Colgay Pride faced similar barriers last year, Hobbs said, when they were informed they needed to provide two officers, rent portable restrooms and shorten the event’s hours.
“Combined with security, we were looking at more than $1,000 in required expenses for a free community event,” Hobbs said. “We don’t have that kind of funding, and we don’t have large corporate sponsors. We cut costs everywhere we can. I DJ the events myself, we use equipment we already own, and we rely heavily on volunteers.”
After trying to find another officer, their contact with the MCSO informed them that he was unable to find a second officer for the date, Hobbs said.
“Without the required second officer, we could not move forward,” Hobbs said. “And once again, we were forced to cancel — something that breaks my heart every time. People look forward to these events. For many, it is the only place they feel safe, welcomed and able to be their authentic selves. Canceling means taking that away from them.”
The requirement for security is based on a documented need to protect Diversity Saturdays’ participants, Phillips said, given the history of these events drawing in counter-protestors who use amplified sound and aggressive tactics.
“Our primary goal is to ensure that every organization in our city can gather safely and express themselves without fear of harassment,” Phillips said.
Past disturbances from outside groups
The repeated disturbances Diversity Saturday has attracted have come from outside groups, Hobbs said. They come to disrupt the event, he said.
“The pattern is always the same,” Hobbs said. “They are not members of our community. They are not there to engage in dialogue, and they are not there in the spirit of peace. They come specifically to intimidate, provoke and create chaos.”
In 2022, Colgay Pride announced it would move its monthly Drag Queen Story Time from the median of the 1100 block on Broadway in downtown Columbus to an online-only event after hecklers created a hostile environment for the program.
In that instance, groups outside Columbus traveled to the city to disrupt the event, Hobbs said. The Columbus Police Department warned Colgay Pride this would happen a week before the event, he said, and the organization received “one of the strongest shows of support for the LGBTQ community we have ever seen.”
“More than a hundred officers were present on Broadway that day,” Hobbs said. “They brought out vehicles, ATVs, drones — not to intimidate us, but to ensure that those who came to cause trouble understood that the city would not tolerate violence or harassment. Their presence prevented any incident from occurring.”
Not all the disturbances come from outside groups, he said. Local religious groups have protested Colgay Pride evens, Hobbs said, by blocking walkways and shouting at families.
“They have called me, personally, every name you can imagine: groomer, predator, abomination,” Hobbs said. “They direct similar language toward our attendees, including young people. These actions take a real emotional toll on our community. Many of our attendees are already vulnerable, already struggling to feel safe or accepted, and being confronted with that level of hostility can be devastating.”
Groups have disrupted Diversity Saturdays and the Pride Festival, he said. During last year’s festival, protesters entered the festival grounds, creating a scene that took over an hour to resolve, Hobbs said.
“These disruptions drain our time, our energy and our resources,” he said. “They force us to divert attention away from serving our community and toward managing hostility.”
Moving the location
CPD wants Colgay Pride to thrive, Phillips said, and if the associated costs to host the event in the Uptown Business District are a barrier, there are other locations in Columbus where these restrictions would not apply.
One option that was presented to Colgay Pride was Woodruff Riverfront Park, Hobbs said, but this comes with its own barriers including:
- $500 deposit to use the space
- No lighting for evening programming
- No access to the built-in stage
That location is also removed from the visibility and foot traffic that have helped make Diversity Saturdays meaningful, Hobbs said.
“The message this sends, whether intentional or not, is that LGBTQ gatherings are treated differently,” he said. “That our presence on Broadway is a problem to be managed, while other groups are welcomed and accommodated.”
Hobbs argued other large community events have been held on Broadway without the restrictions.
“The city’s own Public Events Calendar shows that nearly every Saturday of the year, Broadway or the surrounding Uptown area hosts events of all kinds: markets, races, concerts, festivals, church events, food truck gatherings and large‑scale community programs,” he said.
Uptown is a high-traffic business district, Phillips said. City ordinances have been adopted as the area has grown to balance public events with the needs of local businesses, Phillips said.
“These rules — covering street closures, trash removal, and security — apply to every organization that applies for a permit in this zone,” Phillips said. “Several other groups have also chosen to move their events to different locations to avoid the specific logistical requirements that come with hosting an event in the heart of our business district.”
Regulations set by Uptown, according to Phillips, include:
- Street Closures for a maximum of 5 hours
- You must submit a security plan to Uptown. The Uptown security detail is responsible for evaluating the plan and determining whether security is required. Past events will be taken into consideration for approval.
- A bathroom plan (porta-potties may need to be ordered)
- A plan to deal with trash
- Amplified sound must be approved by a permit from the Chief of Police’s office.
Colgay Pride is not asking for special treatment, Hobbs said.
“We simply want the same opportunity to gather, celebrate, and exist without being pushed out, priced out or burdened with requirements that no one else is being asked to meet,” he said.
A safe space
This issue is about more than the cancellation of an event, Hobbs said.
“It is about whether LGBTQ people in this city feel like they have a place here or whether they feel pushed out,” he said.
Some LGBTQ residents have chosen to leave Columbus because they feel they have no choice, Hobbs said.
“We continue to lose extraordinary people — talented, creative, compassionate individuals who would have enriched Columbus for decades — because they don’t feel like there is space for them here,” he said.
Colgay Pride and Hobbs are valued members of the Columbus community, Phillips said.
“We are not asking them to do anything that we don’t ask of every other festival or demonstration held on Broadway,” Phillips said. “Our recommendation for security is not a hurdle; it is a response to the reality of past events, intended solely to ensure that Diversity Saturday remains a safe, peaceful environment for everyone involved.”
The LGBTQ community wants a place to feel safe and gather, Hobbs said.
“That is what Diversity Saturday has always been about,” he said. “It is not political. It is not divisive. It is a lifeline.. It is a space where people who have been pushed out of churches, families and workplaces can finally hear, ‘You belong. You matter. You are not alone.’”
