A parade was among the events at Warren's first Pride celebration.
By: Gena Johnson | Warren Weekly | Published July 12, 2024
WARREN — At the July 9 Warren City Council meeting, some residents vented about vendors’ products, political campaigning and what they called the council’s inaction regarding events at the city’s first Pride celebration.
Toys
Warren’s first Pride celebration, held on the front lawn of City Hall June 29, was advertised as “family friendly,” but those in attendance could see two booths dedicated to what many referred to as “adult sex toys” openly displayed.
“I am sure that any parent that brought kids there thinking they were going to a family-friendly event would never have thought they would have been introduced to sex toys, and there were vulgar things and sayings that were hung up that I really don’t want to say out loud in the media,” said Kelly Colegio, who did not attend the event but said she has friends who did. She said it introduced children to sexual material much too early.
However, the event’s key organizer, Monica Papasian, said, “My 10-year-old daughter walked around and took pictures and thought nothing of the displays.”
Macomb County Commissioner Michelle Nard, of District 12, said she does not want her grandchildren exposed to the adult items.
“I don’t have a problem with LGBT rights. What I have a problem with is if I can’t put my Bible in your face, don’t put your (adult items) in my face or my kids’ face,” Nard said. “As an elected official, someone should have said something.”
Nard, who was not present at Warren Pride, spoke at the council meeting about her grandson, who went to the City Hall fountain to play and walked around because he was curious.
“I am very offended, and he was very traumatized by seeing (adult items), because I don’t teach him that at home,” Nard said. “I don’t care what other people teach their kids and what other people allow. If you have a right to do that, I have a right to be upset and say I don’t like it.”
Colegio spoke about her perception of the elected leaders’ inaction.
“I am still dismayed that there were so many elected officials there, acting in their official capacity or acting as candidates, and not one of them took steps to stop that,” Colegio said. “And to me that is just unconscionable.”
Police complaint
There was one official police complaint filed, along with more than 50 calls, many of which were from people who were not at the event but who said, “You got to do something about this,” said Warren Police Commissioner Charles Rushton.
“It is an active investigation, and we are trying to figure out if there is anything criminal or if it’s just going to be code and zoning violations,” said Rushton.
The complaint is that sexually oriented toys were displayed in the view of children, according to the commissioner. There are no stores that sell adult items in the city, and there haven’t been for 15 years, so further investigation is needed, police said.
18 and over
Initially, organizers were going to have an 18-and-over section, according to Papasian.
“When we were working with the vendors that we had, we didn’t have any at the time that would have needed to be over there. There was one (vendor) in the works that would have been questionable,” Papasian said. “So, the solution was to have nothing out on their table that’s not kid appropriate. So, if somebody came up to their booth, they could pull it out and show them, but there would be nothing out (that would be inappropriate) for kids.”
That vendor put out a sign noting that it was for people 18 and older, and it had nothing out on display that would be inappropriate for children, according to Papasian.
“(This vendor) also did the same thing at other Pride events and was very responsible about it,” Papasian said. “After that point, we had two more vendors added on, which were the two in question. That was still supposed to be the plan. That, obviously, didn’t happen, and that is incredibly disappointing to me, because for all the great things that we did that day and came out of that day itself, it was such a big deal. And all of the time we put into it, it’s a shame that this one error, that was not intentional but still an error, is what will resonate with people about the event.”
Papasian said she takes responsibility for what happened.
“I am wrong. We made a mistake, and I’ll own that,” Papasian said. “But I find it really frustrating that the people that are running this charge really were not even there.”
City Council
According to Councilman Jonathan Lafferty, there should not have to be an 18 and over booth at an event like this. All groups should follow the same rules, and no one should be given preferential treatment, Lafferty said.
Lafferty reiterated, “This should never happen again.”
Councilman Dave Dwyer, the mayor pro tem, called for an investigation, and Melody Magee, the vice president of the council, said she was on the phone that day trying to get the two vendors removed. However, according to event organizers, the vendors stayed for the duration of the event.
The Pride organizers were not charged for the use of the atrium or the front lawn at City Hall, according to Papasian. The event was a “grassroots community-organized event,” said city of Warren Director of Communications Clarissa Cayton.
The National Day of Prayer has an event at City Hall every year. Jocelyn Howard is its coordinator. “We paid $850 this year, in addition to a deposit. The deposit was returned,” Howard said.
City officials could not be reached for comment by press time about why one group was charged and another wasn’t.
According to Cayton, it was the organizers’ event. Papasian said they were not charged for the one police officer on duty. The group did their own setup, tear down, and cleanup. There was no ambulance on-site but there was a medical truck present, which belonged to one of the vendors, and was doing HIVtesting. According to Papasian, the medical truck could assist in an emergency until first responders arrived.
Campaigning
State Rep. Mike McFall was mentioned for allegedly violating campaign laws for having a booth and passing out campaign literature.
“It was a private event, so no campaign violation. If it was an event that was hosted by the city, then it would have been a campaign violation,” McFall said. “It would be no different than if they leased out the space to a religious organization.”
Many from the community supported the event.
“I was there with some members of my church, which is the Warren First United Methodist Church,” said Debra Cusmano. “I agree there are a couple of things that could have been done differently at the event. Please keep in mind this was Warren’s first Pride event. I hope it is an annual event.
“In my opinion, it was about love, kindness and a fun time for anyone whether you are gay, straight, adults or kids,” Cusmano said. “It was really nice and heartwarming for me to see.”