In early September, Murray Pride gathered at the Doran Arboretum to discuss the future of the group. The location served as a reminder of the first organizational meeting of Murray Pride, which had taken place at the same location in 2022.
The gathering came just days after Murray Pride canceled its annual celebration, which had been held in September since 2023 to allow Murray State University students to participate. For months, there had been little word about plans for the 2026 event. On Aug. 31, the organization announced the cancellation on Facebook, citing burnout, weather and other challenges. The post stated that only four members remained in the group and that they were "burned out and stretched as thin as possible."
Kae Morris, who formerly served as treasurer and is now interim president of Murray Pride, took over from former president Charlie Heeke following the Facebook post. Morris said she disagreed with aspects of the post but hoped the change in leadership would be noticed.
"I'm glad everyone saw it, though," Morris said. "That was not a good way to do that."
"I don't want to see it (Murray Pride) crash and burn," she added.
Morris described the September gathering as a "call to action" intended to reconnect the organization with the community and return to its grassroots beginnings.
"I was trying to take it back to that," Morris said. "It was very much a grassroots thing."
Murray Pride's roots go back to 2019, when Nic Schmittou, Danielle Muzina and Arden Cloud organized what started out as a march from the Murray State University gate at the intersection of 15th and Olive streets to Chestnut Park. The support for the parade led the organizers to create Pride Day, which took place that June, the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots.
"The first parade wasn't a Murray Pride event, but it's where I think everything started from," said Madison Leach, an attorney who helped establish the organization and later served as its president. "It was a highly successful event and kind of brought the community together."
The community turnout in 2019 "astounded" the organizers and led many to realize the need for more. Plans were made for another event in 2020, but COVID-19 put those plans on hold. Christine Lindner served as lead organizer of the 2021 Pride Picnic and March, held at Chestnut Park.
Leach and Devan Reed, who would become Murray Pride's first president, began discussing how to give the community some direction and started working on bylaws in 2021. Murray Pride LLC filed its articles of organization with the Kentucky secretary of state in March 2022.
The group held its first organizational meeting at the Doran Arboretum the following month. Leach said members subsequently invited others in the community to join and held elections for officers. Leach succeeded Reed as president in 2023 but stepped down after a few months when she started a new job as a public defender.
The annual parade and Pride Fest became events that many in the community looked forward to, with well-attended celebrations in 2024 and 2025.
Lindner, who currently leads West Kentucky NOW, a group that has supported Murray Pride, said she and others wanted to know what was happening because they wanted to continue supporting the organization.
The challenges facing Murray Pride are not necessarily new. Lindner said organizing in western Kentucky is difficult, and Leach described the workload involved in maintaining the organization and putting on large community events.
"It takes up a great deal of time," Leach said. "You're working with vendors, with businesses in the community who want to sponsor, individual personalities, keeping the organization moving forward, while trying to attract new membership. It all becomes a lot of stress."
Leach said secretaries Melissa Flemming and April Haneline shouldered much of the workload dealing with vendors and placement at events during her time on the board. Organizers also faced criticism and personal attacks from outside the organization, along with personality conflicts within the group.
"There's a lot of controversy that comes with it," Leach said.
Morris said she discovered problems with Murray Pride's organizational and financial records after taking over as interim president.
According to the Kentucky secretary of state's office, Murray Pride LLC was registered as a nonprofit limited liability company in March 2022. However, the state administratively dissolved the organization on Oct. 4, 2023, after it failed to file its annual report. State records show the organization remains inactive and in bad standing.
Although registered as a nonprofit in Kentucky, Murray Pride never received 501(c)(3) recognition from the IRS, which would grant it federal tax-exempt status. Morris said previous leadership had represented the organization as having that designation. Lindner said there had been plans to obtain it, but the paperwork was never completed.
Morris hopes to address the organization's filing problems and obtain federal tax-exempt status, although she is uncertain how long that process will take.
Morris also wants to establish a more sustainable leadership structure.
"I do not want to be in leadership long-term. I want to be a member at large and help when I want to help," Morris said.
She hopes to co-chair the role with board member Alex Fortner in January and eventually return to electing officers, although she acknowledged that finding people willing to take on leadership responsibilities will be a challenge.
The September meeting, called Building Pride Together, was part of that effort. Morris said there was a wonderful turnout, with conversations and feedback from community members. She also asked those who attended and people following Murray Pride on Facebook what they wanted from the organization.
"One of the most common things people were asking for was just something to do," Morris said. "Just hanging out as a group. They didn't care what it was or when it was, just something to do."
The organization is now focusing on smaller, more casual gatherings through its Queerly Aligned monthly meetups, held on the last Sunday of each month from 6-8 p.m. at The Barre. The themed events, such as Cozy Gaming Night, where attendees can bring a video or board game, offer a place for members of the community to spend time together.
Morris said the smaller gatherings are low-stakes events that require consent before photos are taken or posted online, a consideration for people who may have safety concerns.
Lindner said she thinks these gatherings are what the community wants and needs, while also placing fewer demands on organizers.
"People want to meet up, they just want to meet other people," Lindner said. "These smaller events are not really demanding of the organizers."
For Morris, the importance of Murray Pride goes beyond organizing events. She described the organization as offering a sense of home, chosen family and support. She has received messages through Murray Pride from people who recently moved to the area and are scared, as well as people who have not come out to their families.
Lindner said it is also important for people outside the LGBTQ community to recognize that their neighbors, friends and family members may be part of that community.
"Your nephew or niece or the young kid playing down the street, they're part of the (LGBTQ) community, and we're not some, like, bogeyman coming in from the outside; we're in Murray," Lindner said.
The 2025 Queer Kentucky Community Health Survey, conducted in partnership with the Moore Lab, surveyed 559 LGBTQ adults across Kentucky using a nonrandom sample. Among respondents from western Kentucky, 29.2% reported experiencing physical assault they attributed to the anti-LGBTQ climate, compared with 15.2% of respondents statewide.
For those involved in Murray Pride's beginnings, the goal was to make the community a more welcoming place.
"Our goal was to make Murray just a little bit friendlier," Leach said. "We wanted to be an organization that helped local persons and make Murray just a little bit friendlier than it was."
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