FAYETTEVILLE — He’s the youngest grand marshal to lead the Northwest Arkansas Gay Pride Parade.
When 10-year-old Will Phillips declined standing for the Pledge of Allegiance in his West Fork middle school classroom, he stood up for gay rights.
Phillips’ said until everyone in the country is treated equally, he’d just as well sit out the Pledge of Allegiance. Some of the people Phillips had in mind that morning in October were gay Americans, many of whom cannot legally marry in 41 states. Arkansas amended its constitution in 2004 to make gay marriage and gay civil unions illegal. Arkansas voters approved another amendment in 2008 t to prevent unmarried persons from adopting or fostering children.
AT A GLANCE
NWA Pride Parade
Where: Fayetteville
When: 10 a.m. June 26
Route: East Avenue to Dickson Street. There will be a rally in the Walton Arts Center parking lot.
Source: Staff Report
“Our family is very passionate about equality and the experiences of the last half-year have only intensified that,” said Jay Phillips, Will’s father.
The gay pride parade, organized by NWA Pride, is in its fifth year.
“There were several pride and protest parades dating back to the late eighties,” said Joney Harper, one of the parade organizers. “The first parade I attended in Northwest Arkansas was in 2004, which was the first parade in some time.”
The parade has grown to some 300 participants and 500 spectators, Harper added. “This year we expect a lot more due to the notoriety of Will Phillips as grand marshal.”
The modern gay rights movement began on a June night in 1969 at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village in New York. The bar was raided by police — typical for these establishments at the time. The bar’s patrons — which included lesbians, drag queens and everyone in between — fought back.
“That was an amazing night,” remembers John Schenck, 60, of Conway, who was a teenage barback in the bar at the time.
Schenck and his partner, Robert Loyd, have been together since 1975 and have been living in Arkansas for the last 32 years. The two Conway residents have been champions for gays and the many struggles they’ve faced through the years.
“It’s just incredible, the changes that have occurred over the years,” Schenck said, recalling the random and deliberate discrimination gay men and women encountered and how attitudes have changed, those in Conway included.