UPPER NAZARETH TWP., Pa. — The Upper Nazareth Township Board of Supervisors vetoed an inclusivity celebration in a heated meeting Wednesday night.
The board rejected a permit application from organizer April Gabriel-Ferretti for a Pride event in a packed room where attendees shouted at one another, arguing over the issues.
The township had initially approved her application for a June 10 community event that was scheduled to include activities including live music, a dog drag show, drag story time and informational booths. Gabriel-Ferretti is the founder of a group named Nazareth Together.
- The Board of Supervisors rejected the Pride event because they said it was not sponsored by the township
- Immediately prior to denying the permit, the board adopted a new parks and pavilion policy that said events have to be township-sponsored
- The new policy was not presented to the public for review or comment before it was approved
“Seven hundred times the word love is mentioned in the Bible,” Gabriel-Ferretti said. “ Okay, love thy neighbor, not hate thy neighbor. We’re talking about an inclusive event.”
Gabreil-Ferretti has a history of organizing inclusive events in the Nazareth area. She organized the first annual Nazareth Together rally last September in support of a local "You Belong” campaign. The campaign encouraged businesses around the Nazareth area to post signs that said “You Belong. You Matter.” in their windows.
Gabriel-Ferretti put together that weekend event in response to opposition to the signs from a group called Parents for Choice, which called the signs a political movement that sent the wrong message to children. They noted the signs included “colors from the LGBTQ+ transgender flag.”
Upper Nazareth Township supervisors' Chairman Scott Sylvainus banged his gavel several times Wednesday night to stop attendees from shouting comments and curse words at each other. He said permission for the event was denied because it was not a township-sponsored event.
The ordinance for Parks and Recreation on the township website says reservations of parks shall be on a first-come, first-served basis unless by annual permission granted by the board, unless it’s a township recreation program or it’s approved by supervisors for a specific use.
“It has nothing to do with the organization,” Sylvainus said.
The board approved a new parks and pavilion policy minutes before denying the Pride event application. The new policy was not given to the public prior to its approval and members of the public had no opportunity to comment on it before supervisors voted. Under the new policy, it now says only township-sponsored events are allowed.
The board got the proposed policy on Friday, which meant by law the public should have also received access to it at that time so they could review it and possibly comment on it during Wednesday’s meeting under the state's open records law, said Melissa Melewsky, in-house counsel for the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association.
Board Solicitor Gary Asteak said members of the public who want access to board packet documents should submit right-to-know requests, which can take five days or longer to receive a response from the governmental agency.
Melewsky said that’s inconsistent with the state’s open records law.
“Even if the policy is still a draft, and I maintain it is not, there’s nothing in the Right to Know Law that requires the agency to deny access."Melissa Melewski, inhouse counsel for the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association
“Even if the policy is still a draft, and I maintain it is not, there’s nothing in the Right-to-Know Law that requires the agency to deny access,” she said in an email. “It is not a confidentiality statute, it is a public access law, and its exemptions are not mandatory.”
The township application Gabriel-Ferretti submitted for the event specifically said it was for “private parties only” and that events needed clearance by the board of supervisors. The organizer said she filled out two applications to try to make clear she wanted to hold an event.
Sylvainus said the township only discovered the event was not private when staff saw social media posts by Gabriel-Ferretti and received a call from a participating vendor — a claim Gabriel-Ferretti disputes. He said it appeared to them like she was attempting to use the park to hold a fundraiser.
Gabriel-Ferretti denied that.
“I think we might have accumulated less than $1,500,” she said. “I just got an estimate from Action Party Rental for a stage, for chairs and tables, for a bouncy house, for a backyard Connect 4 and Jenga. I think it’s like $1,300. So, this isn’t a moneymaker.”
Upper Township Manager Lisa Klem sent Gabriel-Ferretti a letter in March saying she misrepresented her event in her February 24 application and the township was pulling the permit. Township officials said she applied under her own name, not "Pride Nazareth," the insurance she provided was under her husband’s name, she didn’t get permission from the board to have concessions, running of dogs was banned and she needed to arrange for a police presence with local law enforcement. The letter did not say it was revoking her permit due to the event not being sponsored by the township.
Gabriel-Ferretti said her inclusivity festival will still happen — as Nazareth Area Pride — in a new location: New Creation United Church of Christ Church in Palmer Township. She said the controversy about the event has drawn more interest from people wanting to attend.
“It’s been amazing,” she said. “I’m so touched. We’ve had such an awesome response.”
