Community of Pella Chooses Not to Support a Proposed Anti-LGBTQ+ Farmer's Market
"It doesn't represent the values of the farming community"
Second Reformed Church in Pella Welcomes Everyone
On June 1st, I reported that a proposed anti-LGBTQ+ market was proposed for Pella at Pella Books. It was to be called the “The Boerenmarkt,” or farmer’s market in Dutch. Numerous friends contacted me about it, sharing their objections. Since that time, the Pella community has rallied and rejected the market. Organizers had asked supporters to attend the June 20 meeting of the Pella City Council to offer their support, yet when the agenda was posted last week, that item was not on the agenda for last night’s meeting.
The proposal was to request approval for a farmers market at Pella Books that would require the following:
all vendors to dress “in the attire appropriate for the gender of their natural birth.”
no immodest clothing will be allowed (to be determined by the manager).
“No material promoting non-Biblical positions on issues such as evolution, abortion, homosexuality, transgenderism, or presenting occultist beliefs may be displayed by the vendors,” including merchandise and personal attire.
Below is a screenshot of the group’s statement of beliefs, and on June 1, I shared the full vendor agreement which I no longer have access to.
It might seem odd that I’m not naming names in this or my earlier piece. I haven’t named the organizers of the alternative market, and all of the information I share today is on background.
It might not be good journalism, but I’m an anthropologist, and it’s good anthropology.
As this was unfolding, I asked a city official about it, and he told me he didn’t think that it would make the agenda, but didn’t elaborate. Representatives of community organizations that were originally supportive of a second farmers market, share that they felt they were misled by the organizers, as they were not made aware of the group’s statement of beliefs when they initially offered support.
Members of a Facebook group that supports the Pella LGBTQ+ community, and a diverse community in general, rallied and made their perspectives known throughout town.
Yesterday, a member of that group posted a statement they had received from the city:
“The Boerenmarkt special event was the farmer’s market that was proposed to be located on Pella Books’ private property as well as the abutting city-owned alleyway. Originally this was scheduled for Council consideration tonight; however, the property owner revoked permission to hold this event on their property, so the event was not allowed to move forward as submitted. No additional applications for a different location have been submitted to-date.”
My understanding is that a local historic nonprofit owns the property.
So, it appears that the Pella community rallied and rejected a proposed market that was discriminatory and not aligned with their values.
A farmer friend who participates in the Pella Farmer’s Market shares their thoughts:
At the end of the day, with all the markets we attended as a family selling sweetcorn for many years, I can never recall once my parents outing someone for the way that they looked, the type of money that they had, like being from the SNAP program, or what gender they may identify as. We as a family treated all customers as equal from a farmer’s perspective, as a sale was a sale. So to weaponize a farmers market and to be discriminatory both towards the vendors that attended and also the community members that attended is really, really, really far-fetched.
I have never cared as a business with a farming foundation, who I sell my product to. I am just happy to sell it. And I have never thought as farmers to be a specific way in order to sell a product. Farming is farming at the end of the day and you're either good at it or you're not.
The people who wrote these terms are not farmers. If they are prone to discriminate in this way, they are clearly judging the world outside of them without knowing what the world of agriculture really is about."
Clauses in the existing Pella Farmers Market agreement guarantee that the market is inclusive for everyone and non/discriminatory.
I feel that the surrounding agricultural community should be on fire about this, as it does not represent the values whatsoever of the farming community. But farmer’s markets are loving communities run on a shoestring budget and can easily be taken advantage of by outside influencers that want to spread a negative agenda. We should all have our eyes wide open about what is truly happening in our small communities from a point of discrimination.
As all of this was unfolding, on June 6, I received the above press release from the Pella Corporation, one of the oldest and largest manufacturers in Pella. They know our future is diverse and are proud to say so.
There is still work to be done. Today KCCI-TV reported that the ACLU of Iowa has written letters to several communities in Iowa, including Pella, where they believe the city code restricting “drag shows” is unconstitutional. Here is the related ordinance in Pella found under “Adult Entertainment.”
Several other communities I looked at have similar ordinances worded identically, so it may just be city code “boilerplate” and easily changed. However, it could also be a flashpoint for right-wing conservative Christians. Let’s hope not.
Update: I learned this afternoon that the Knoxville Mayor and City Council had received the same letter from the ACLU, and they changed the ordinance as suggested. It passed without controversy.
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Thank you, Dr Bob for the update. This is good news. I also appreciate you using the front doors of our church, Second Reformed on your post. We are a welcoming and affirming congregation.
I wonder how our former President Trump reflected the essence of the Bible in the eyes of Pella's political leadership...since Trump did so well in the city. Perhaps it's just sufficient that Trump's not gay.