CORBIN, Ky. (LEX 18) — A small but mighty community brought a piece of LGBTQ+ Pride to Corbin over the weekend.
“Me and my partner worked together to organize a peaceful human rights protest to try to combat some of the legislation going through Kentucky that’s trying to attack trans people and LGBTQ across the country,” said event organizer, Trent Osborne.
Not long after the protest began, the group came face to face with the very hate they were protesting against.
Caught on camera and shared across social media, two counter-protesters are seen approaching the group, shouting homophobic slurs, touting a KKK membership card, and exposing their firearms.
“I genuinely thought someone was going to die that day,” said another organizer, Jonas Ray.
“The only thing I could think of, was at least if something happened, my son would know that it was for a good cause,” said protester Ajay Anderson. “That was the only thing I could think of, 'What's the last thing I said to my kid?' because you never know what these people are gonna do.”
With tempers flaring and firearms visible, protesters feared the worst and called the police. Organizers say officers de-escalated the situation and told the men to leave.
“There's a cloud of ignorance in front of people sometimes,” said Anderson. “I'm like, ‘We would not be here if it wasn't for people like you who do not accept us.’”
Days later, protesters still wonder how an attempt at peace and understanding could end with the complete opposite.
“It's frightening how it can turn to that because we aren't here to hurt anybody, we simply just ask that we have our rights, that we exist,” said Osborne.
Holding onto the meaning of Pride month, a time to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community, Corbin protesters say their run-in with hate has only left them inspired.
“It's prideful because I survived losing my family, I survived those guys that day, and I'm surviving my community every single day as a queer person,” said Ray. “That's what Pride means to me, and it boils that fire even more to show that I'm alive no matter how many days I'm openly queer in my community.”
“People tell me to back down because these people will harm you, and it is frightening, but we aren't going to back down,” said Osborne.
