07/16/2025
We are asking people to show up to the Tanana Valley State Fair Association Board meeting on Wednesday, July 16 at 6:00 p.m. in the Agricultural Museum on the fairgrounds. (Enter through the far blue gate. You can park immediately on your right. It's the small barn with a greenhouse next to it).
Just having your supportive presence would make a big difference, but also members of the public can give a 3-minute comment. Please consider commenting to the Board on supporting the drag and LGBTQ community. Emphasize that drag can be and is for all ages (Bethel Pride this month for example!), and highlight the TVSFA Board’s lack of response or statement about the ongoing harm to the Q***r community, even after many testimonies over many months.
On Feb. 24, the Tanana Valley State Fair Association Board of Directors made a top-down decision to cancel a drag show (The Glam Show by Out At The Fair) that had been scheduled to happen at this year's Fair.
Since then members of our community have been going to the Fair's Board meetings to ask the Board how this decision was made, encouraging them to allow the Fair staff to continue planning the show, and encouraging them to release a statement affirming Q***r and LGBT Fairbanksans inclusion at the Fair. At these meetings there has always been one or two people who comment that including anything pro-LGBTQ will bankrupt the Fair. Or will "open the gate for anyone to be included at the Fair". Or that LGBTQ events should happen at a separate facility segregated from the rest of the Fair.
This culminated at the Special Board meeting last week, where nearly two-thirds of the comments disparaged the Q***r community, called for segregation or shared misinformation. On July 11, the Fair Board released a press release about the canceling of the drag show that did not address the homophobia and transphobia that has been publicly and privately expressed to fair employees and members of our PFLAG community.
As PFLAG Fairbanks has had a booth at the fair for many years, including this year, it's imperative to show up and advocate for a fair that's safe for everyone and for the Fair Board to condemn the bigotry and hate.
