Churches took over a Cookeville, TN Christmas parade. Then came the chaos.

The parade application now includes an anti-LGBTQ "Statement of Faith"

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[Note: There is an update at the bottom!]

The 2024 Cookeville-Putnam County Christmas Parade in Tennessee is going to be a huge event. Huge enough that the local PBS affiliate will carry the parade live on December 14 because, as one of its leaders previously explained, it’s “one of the community’s most beloved traditions.”

Santa at a Christmas parade (image via Adobe Spark)

If there are local groups interested in participating in the parade, whether walking in it or creating a float, all they have to do is fill out the application before November 29. It’s just basic stuff. You have to describe your entry, provide contact information, agree not to throw candy from your float (because it might cause injury!), and promise not to dress up as Santa Claus (because he’ll already be making an appearance).

Oh. And you have to agree that trans people don’t exist, that same-sex marriage is an abomination, and that human life begins at conception.

It’s all part of the application’s Statement of Faith.

This went viral yesterday after it was shared by the Tennessee Holler X/Twitter account because the parade was believed to be a city-run event. But that didn’t actually appear to be the case. Neither Cookeville nor Putnam was advertising the event on their government websites. Instead, two local churches—Life Church and the River Community Church—were leading the charge. (Cookeville and Putnam County were only mentioned as part of the liability waiver; you can’t sue them if something bad happens while participating in the parade.)

There were, however, open questions about which groups were running the show.

Last year, when the local Chamber of Commerce was involved in the event, there was a different kind of controversy. A group called Upper Cumberland Pride planned to participate and filled out the application… only to have it rejected because they were deemed a safety threat:

"The representative went to the meeting to find out the details on where we had to be. We were told we couldn’t be in the parade because we’re not family-friendly," Upper Cumberland Pride president Jessica Patterson said.

The Christmas Parade committee is comprised of a group of local business people and nonprofit entities.

In a statement to NewsChannel 5 by the Cookeville-Putnam County Chamber Christmas Parade Committee, they voted that it was in the safety interests of all involved to not allow the Upper Cumberland Pride entry to participate.

What exactly were the “safety” concerns?

"Our theme was 'Don we now our gay apparel.' We were planning to come out in contour fashion and voguing," Patterson said.

Oh no! Voguing! It’s the leading cause of death for children if you ignore guns and pools and peanuts!

Did they think the voguing would injure someone? Who knows. Or maybe the church groups involved just didn’t want to catch gay cooties.

Patterson, the Pride group leader, said in a separate article that if the fear was that her members would dress provocatively, it didn’t even make sense: "It's going to be 30 degrees outside. No one's coming out there in booty shorts.”

But the Chamber of Commerce told me on Friday that they weren’t participating in the event at all this year. By ceding the territory to the churches, then, the event has become even more explicitly Christian. Jews are not welcome. Atheists and Muslims and LGBTQ people are not wanted. Christians who support civil rights and women’s health care can’t participate either.

Honestly, the weirdest thing about a church-run parade that forces participants to sign a Statement of Faith is that it’s still paying homage to Santa, Rudolph, and all those other secular representations of the holiday season. At this point, I don’t get why they’re not just presenting a full-blown Nativity Scene on the parade route.

But that still raised the question of why the local PBS affiliate was airing what basically amounted to a church service rather than something that serves the whole community.

When I contacted them on Friday morning for comment, they didn’t return my call. However, later in the evening, they posted a note on Facebook basically saying they were unaware this had become a Christian-only event:

WCTE PBS has become aware of the recently posted application regarding the event titled Cookeville Christmas Parade. The station and its employees have not been involved in drafting the document and were not informed of its contents prior to its release.

The views expressed in the application are those of the entities responsible for that document and it is not a reflection or representation of any position taken by WCTE PBS. The Upper Cumberland Broadcast Council and WCTE PBS are in consultation with their legal advisors and will issue an official statement as soon as it is completed.

WCTE PBS continues to support the vision of promoting an educated, informed, and inclusive region, and will continue to act with integrity, welcome and respect all people, strive for excellence, and meet needs that strengthen our region's vitality.

That suggests they are eager to back out of airing the event as long as that doesn’t break the terms of any contractual obligations. It also suggests they always assumed this would be a city-sponsored event.

The city of Cookeville also released a statement last night asking everyone to back off since they’re not involved with this debacle—while adding that any permits were legally obtained.

The Christmas parade that takes place in Cookeville has never been produced by the City of Cookeville government, but for many decades, has been privately produced by the private-membership nonprofit Cookeville-Putnam County Chamber of Commerce.

While the parade has certainly been a welcome tradition for the residents of the city, it simply has never been produced by the City of Cookeville government in many decades.

This year, the Chamber has decided not to put on the Christmas parade. However, a local private group, sponsored by local churches, has asked to put on their own Christmas Parade.

The City had nothing to do with the handoff to this group and still has nothing to do with the production or operation of the Christmas parade. The private group simply applied for a temporary street closure for a parade, as any other private group is permitted to do and as any kind of parade-type event requires.

It is extremely unfortunate that something like a Christmas parade has become such a controversial event in this day and time, but the City of Cookeville government is not involved with this event at all. Any requirements by this private group concerning participation in the parade are not enforced by, are not approved by, and should not be attributed to the City of Cookeville.

That, too, is a fine (albeit very defensive) statement. Churches are allowed to apply for street closures and rent police protection. Again, this is not a church/state separation issue and people shouldn’t treat it as such.

But the bottom line is that because this event is now run by churches, it’s being defined by its bigotry and who the organizers want to exclude. It’s no longer a celebration of the holidays. The people of the community should keep that in mind when considering whether they want to attend the parade.

Incidentally, a phone call to a number associated with the parade went unanswered yesterday and the parade’s Facebook page had been taken down at last check.

Update (10/22): PBS affiliate WCTE says it will no longer air the parade. Instead, it will “produce a special program that highlights the holidays around the Upper Cumberland.”

Stand by for whining from the Christian groups who will no longer get the publicity they expected.

Separately, there is a push to create an all-inclusive holiday parade. You can support that effort right here.

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