For PRIDE Month, we’ve been recognizing inspirational leaders and changemakers in the LGBTQ+ community. In doing so, we’ve had the honor of speaking with Shannon Fortner.
Unity and ICON Award winner Shannon Fortner is the Founder and Organizer of the Harvey Milk Festival, now known as the Fabulous Arts Foundation. In her work, she empowers and amplifies the voices of the LGBTQ+ community through entertainment, education, and communication.
Through our conversation, we learned about the importance of community, how visibility and representation positively impacts lives, and how one passionate voice can evolve into a home for an entire community.
The Journey
Growing up in Kentucky, Shannon struggled to receive the support they needed as a queer youth. Even after moving away for high school, they couldn’t find the safe space that they needed, that critical community connection. Now, they want to be that resource for others.
“There needs to be a support system for our youth and even for adults who are still finding themselves and trying to come out.”
“I think it’s just really important that we feel seen and feel like we have visibility and feel like we’re being heard.”
Inspired by the 2009 Equality March in Washington D.C. where activist Cleve Jones rallied for people to start organizing in their communities, Shannon Fortner immediately went to work and merged their music career with activism to create the Harvey Milk Festival in Sarasota.
The Harvey Milk Festival was created to not only celebrate one of the nation’s first openly gay politicians, but to advance his ideals of equality, diversity, and LGBTQ+ rights. After years of effectively connecting more people to those ideals, the Festival evolved into the Fabulous Arts Foundation (FABAF), a nonprofit organization that promotes equality for LGBTQ+ people by fostering emerging artistic talent and supporting equal rights legislation.
“After accumulating all the need for access and support, I took it upon myself to utilize my music career and my activism and combine that to create what was Harvey Milk Festival and is now Fabulous Arts Foundation. When we first started, I didn’t realize how much it was needed. After becoming a 501c3, we just kept growing. Now we have a Foundation to house all of our programming and advocacy work.”
Over the past decade, this Sarasota-based festival has evolved into a multifaceted organization celebrating art, expression, queer identity, LGBTQ+ education, and more. Shannon has created a space for the community to gather and be seen.
After operating without a dedicated physical space for the past 12 years, Shannon believes it’s about time for FABAF to build a home.
“Our goal is to have a queer performing arts center that can be a community space, because we do not currently have that in Sarasota.”
Having a performing arts center would mean being able to retain local talent, hiring full-time staff, and allowing FABAF to effectively implement the programming that they’ve been building for the past decade.
“This is kind of a dream for the community. Especially after the pandemic, the community needs a place where everyone can come together and connect.”
The Fabulous Arts Foundation
FABAF strives to create safe spaces within the Sarasota community, as well as a platform for the LGBTQ+ community to be heard.
After just wrapping up their 3-day PRIDE | Be Fabulous Arts & Music Festival, FABAF has an exciting lineup of events that the community can get involved in.
“These events really help amplify LGBTQ+ artists, giving them the opportunity to do things a little outside of the bar scene and give them a platform that’s more of a theater setting. We want to give them the opportunity to shine the brightest that they can.”
Here’s just a sample of some of the events scheduled for 2022:
- After Dark Market – PRIDE Edition on June 11th to support and elevate the visibility of queer and trans artists.
- 12th Annual Fabulous Independent Film Festival from September 22nd through October 1st. This will be a 2-week, drive-in film festival where people can set up chairs and blankets and hang out on the lawn to watch films together.
- Drag Culture Fest – Drag History Exhibition from November 22nd to January 23rd at the Ringling Museum. Community gallery space will present a timeline of drag culture history dating back to the 1600s to educate guests on drag kings, queens, and all that lies beyond.
- Drag Culture Fest – The Sarasota Opera House on December 2nd. The community will have the opportunity to watch drag performances on stage during the festival.
- Drag Culture Fest – Mini Ball on December 10th. FABAF is planning to partner with Planned Parenthood to put on a drag ball. More details to come later.
“We’ve adopted a lot of different programming over the years. It’s performing arts, dance, music, film, and now we’re bringing drag into a theatre setting. We’re excited because we’ll be bringing in artists from all over which also brings that opportunity for folks to network, to meet new folks, and to possibly work together in the future.”
Moments Illustrating the ‘Why’ Behind the Passion
“I would say there is one moment in particular that I go back to often when I feel really tired or overworked. It was at a youth scholarship award ceremony where this young man won our art scholarship for $1,000.”
“In his acceptance speech, he talked about how he tried to come out to his therapist and his therapist made it very awkward and had a negative tone. He felt very torn as a young man who was trying to understand who he was and how he would come out to his family. He contemplated suicide, and was really having a hard time with it and didn’t feel like he could talk to his family yet.”
“And then he remembered seeing the paper, the Herald-Tribune, that the Harvey Milk Festival was happening downtown. And so he took off. He didn’t tell his mom where he was going. He went and caught the SCAT bus. And he said that as the SCAT bus door opened, it kicked out this cold gust of air. When that door opened, it was like him accepting himself for the first time as he was trying to find his family–his community. And when he got to the Festival, he did that. He found these people who really just supported him and he had a blast. He had a wonderful time and realized, ‘Why would I hide this?’”
“So the reason why I continue doing this work and why I want to do more is for LGBTQ+ folk like that.”
“I’ve had so many people come up to me crying saying, ‘I feel seen!’”
Shannon believes holding spaces for queer and trans people is important as it gives them a platform to be themselves and be included.
“There was a performer from St. Pete, who I remember going over to and saying, ‘Oh I’m so excited to have you perform!’ And they just started crying and were like, ‘I haven’t really been able to perform in a space where I feel seen and included.’”
“It’s not often that they get to perform in a queer space that’s holding space and has visibility for trans folks. I think that’s been the biggest thing for me, is knowing that the work that you’re doing is doing exactly that. You’re able to hold space, and make people feel seen and included.”
The Power of Entertainment and Communication
When thinking about activism and ways to invoke lasting change, entertainment isn’t usually the first thing that comes to mind. However, entertainment has the power to bring people together in a positive atmosphere. Coupled with communication and activism, we can see how Shannon and their work with the Fabulous Arts Foundation is elevating members of the community while providing a safe space for support and education.
“Our mission is to foster the arts as a catalyst for social and political change by amplifying LGBTQ+ people.”
One specific way the arts are able to do this is through representation and visibility in cinema.
“Film gets into living rooms and can really start diving into conversations that otherwise would not be there.”
When someone sees people and characters they identify with and relate to on TV, in movies, or even on stage at a music festival, it can evoke an indescribable happiness rooted in knowing that they’re not alone, their existence is valid, and their dreams and goals are attainable. Recently, we’ve progressively seen more and more representation of the LGBTQ+ community in media. To play their part in this and in providing a space for both viewers and artists to be themselves, Shannon uplifts LGBTQ+ artists and gives them the opportunity to promote issues they’re passionate about during their performances.
“We give them a platform as well if they want to take the opportunity to connect and be passionate about something. I think it really does help folks connect and give both the artists and the patrons an opportunity to experience something beautiful together, because they really get to see someone feel empowered.”
Building a More Inclusive Sarasota
“In Sarasota, I definitely feel safe and seen.”
Over the course of 12 years, Shannon recalls the progress that’s been made in the region and in the livelihood of the community. Going from near to no local LGBTQ+ artists to hosting music events that exclusively feature artists from within the community demonstrates the impact of increased safety and visibility in the area.
“There are more folks that are being creative; they feel like they have support to be their authentic selves. In that way, I think we have come a long way as a community.”
The increased support from businesses over time and the launch of organizations like ALSO Youth has also helped increase visibility, education, and support surrounding the LGBTQ+ community.
But Sarasota isn’t perfect.
“For Sarasota, I feel like it wants to be inclusive. It really wants to. And the businesses, they want to support it, and they believe in it. But I think there are still issues that need to be addressed about experiences that folks have had in the community. We can see the surge with the harmful legislation that is attacking our youth and that sends a message out that politics will continue to divide us if we allow them. So I think there’s still work to be done.”
“I think the interest is there; people want to do better.”
“It’s just one step at a time. It never happens over night even though we want it to.”
Challenges and Lessons
Shannon noted two main challenges she’s faced since founding the Fabulous Arts Foundation. The first emerged after their move from the Rosemary District to Five Points Park–protesters.
“The protesters really put you in that space of, ‘Wow, so this is what it’s like to feel hateful words being projected on you,’ even though you’re just there to be in the space, be in the community, and have support. We had to figure out how we could hold space while keeping the community safe.”
After connecting with her mentors, Shannon figured out the best way forward relied on training within the community and its organizers, mirroring what was taught to activists during the Civil Rights Movement. The key is not to feed the fire started by the protestors.
“Over the years, I feel like we as a community figured a way to tune them out.”
The second, and more recent, challenge has been the pandemic. While a difficult time for everyone, the pandemic was particularly brutal for LGBTQ+ individuals who rely on the community for support. The need for connection and a physical safe space could not be more prominent than amongst the youth demographics of the community. Normally where school or extracurricular activities might serve as an escape, suddenly, they found themselves trapped at home.
“It’s interesting because you feel like you’re very much involved in your child’s life, but sometimes when they don’t feel safe or comfortable, you don’t really know the true version of them. And then they just put up a façade and show you what they feel safe with. But with their classmates, they might feel safe and be their authentic self.”
Being stuck at home in an environment that a child might not consider to be free or safe while being constantly monitored by adults the child doesn’t feel comfortable with raises concerns for physical and mental safety.
“Some of them were being outed–not on purpose, they were just doing what they would normally do in class like being addressed by their chosen name and pronouns. It’s just normally these lives would be divided when their parents aren’t watching or able to hear them in class.”
This, coupled with no longer having access to an outlet to take a break from an unwelcome environment, took a heavy toll on the mental health of LGBTQ+ people.
“Unfortunately, when you’re in a space that’s not necessarily the most productive for someone to be their authentic self, it can be really exhausting. And we haven’t even seen the outcome of it. It’s going to unravel in the next decade. Trauma and PTSD that a lot of people experienced due to the pandemic of not being able to be part of a community or finding that safe space. The positive is that we’re talking more about mental health now. I feel like we’ve at least broken through that barrier of talking about it.”
To help combat this disconnection and mental health crisis, the Fabulous Arts Foundation created a virtual platform to increase access, held a mental health Q&A to explore how artists stay creative while struggling with mental health, and put further efforts into amplifying queer and trans BIPOC artists.
The result? A more connected community.
Pride for PRIDE
PRIDE Month can mean a lot of different things to different people–a time to freely be yourself, an opportunity to connect with others in the community, a reminder of the movement and the work that still needs to be done. For Shannon, it’s about this as well as recognition and legacy.
“Celebrating PRIDE, to me, is celebrating our pioneers and the legacies of the folks that really fought hard to have visibility in a time when there wasn’t really any. It was hard work, it was violent, there was anger. It’s about visibility and feeling heard.”
“I’ve been grateful that a lot of Black and Brown folks are getting recognized for the work that they did in our movement. I think it’s taking a lot of people being involved, especially our allies, to really be where we are socially. I think through love, compassion, friendship, and relationships, we’ve finally gotten to where we are in 2022–a movement where all of these people are saying they feel seen.”
“I feel like PRIDE is what we make it. We all have a little bit of PRIDE within ourselves and this is just how we shine and how we carry the work that folks did for us to be able to express ourselves.”
Advice to Aspiring Change Makers
Shannon encourages anyone aspiring to make a positive difference in the world to stay determined.
“If you are passionate about something and feel like you can inspire and resonate a message and do something beautiful in the world, don’t ever let anyone tell you no.”
“Because you can be capable of doing almost anything. That is essentially how I started this festival. I just kind of ran with it because I had so much passion and had a vision on how to support the community.”
Optimistic for the Future
When it comes to what lies ahead, Shannon has a lot to be optimistic about.
“I’m optimistic that we can continue to hold space for folks that are still on their adventure of finding themselves or finding that community that they want to be a part of or feel seen by.”
She’s also excited by the prospect of bringing older and younger generations of the community together.
“I definitely feel hopeful that we can have deeper conversations in our community and start connecting on a personal level.”
“I look forward to connecting different generations and sharing their experiences–what it was like coming out, realizing their first moment of when they really needed the support. We’re all different in our process in how we find ourselves. It’s never easy. It doesn’t matter what generation we’re from; it’s just a process. I think it will be interesting to push boundaries, open that dialogue, and also educate.”
But above all else, Shannon is excited to continue her mission: “Amplifying voices. Amplifying artists and helping them be as loud as they want to be.”
How to Get Involved
If you’re interested in making a difference in the LGBTQ+ community or would like to support the work of the Fabulous Arts Foundation, volunteering, feedback, and board opportunities are always available at Fabaf.org.
“I would love for you to come and get involved, and if there’s something you don’t see happening in our community, I would love for you to activate that and use our platform to create it. We always use the saying ‘community focused, community driven.’ And that is the intention, that this is the community’s organization.”
If you’d like to learn more about the Fabulous Arts Foundation, please visit Fabaf.org. For more information on PRIDE Month, please visit the PRIDE History Channel.
