THE RESULTS ARE IN: 88% of Philadelphians Say Philly Pride Needs a Makeover

Earlier this week, we shared community feedback on our recent Philly Pride coverage, including a response from Pride organizer Franny Price.  We also surveyed our readers about their opinion of Philly Pride, asking if they think it needs an update. We had 413 people answer the poll, and, well, the results pretty much speak for themselves:

• 88% said Pride definitely needs an adrenaline boost.
• 4% said Pride is fine as is.
• 8% don’t care.

We also received many interesting responses from readers about Franny Price’s feedback, which, as you’ll see here, took more of a defensive, finger-pointing approach than one that was eager to listen to what the community is saying. Below, some of the most on-point comments from readers

“Wow…[the] reply by Franny Price is one of the most arrogant, ignorant comments I’ve ever seen. If you’re putting on an event, the attendees are your CUSTOMERS, and that is an absolutely DISGRACEFUL way to reply to your CUSTOMERS. Maybe there needs to be a boycott, not just ‘I won’t go [to Pride]’ but an active campaign of Philly Pride and Outfest and anything else they’re involved with.”—Joe

“The response from Franny Price should simply be “We are looking into the comments to see how we can make Philly Pride 2015 even better!” No one is attacking the hard work done by the committee; people just want to see something equal to, or better than, what other smaller cities have. Why is it I can’t even look up the attendance to Philly pride? Perhaps I’m not looking in the right places. I would think it’d be right on the Philly Pride Website. […] Where is the openness, and transparency showing that other options have been sought out?“—K Philly

“Gee, the organizer does not endear herself at all to those with a view opposite to hers. Whenever you service the public it’s important to at least acknowledge those who object to your way of doing things. The article I read on G Philly was nowhere near a slam of Philly’s pride event. If you begin to hear murmuring of people wanting change, it’s time to brainstorm on what you can do differently – not shut those people down.”—Jarrod King

“I knew Franny personally from 20 years ago, but havent spoken to her in years. She’s smart, capable and passionate. However, her response shows the issue loud and clear -folks involved think the end result of their labor represents what a big city celebration should look like when it doesn’t. A glance at the amature quality of the pride site (its lack of social media aspects in specific) speaks volumes as well. I happened to be in Nashville this past weekend for their Pride. Mary Lambert from Macklemoore fame was one of their headliners. Their festival and stage show was awesome and stood far above ours. I’ll always attend Philly Pride to take part in the community, but I can’t pretend its not dry and boring as is.”—Antony

“What everyone is saying is true. And the problem is obvious. What we have here is a hyper-sensitive bully who degrades the opposition, intimidates potential volunteers, ignores advice and lines her own pockets with the attendees’ money. And her writing skills! Is she serious? What talent manager would respond to her emails? Possibly Fantasia’s. What’s the point in skirting the issue? She needs to be gone before any progress can be made.”—Adam

“I’ve spoken to a couple of people who have tried to volunteer for Philly Pride Presents. Franny is more than happy to have help, as long as they do things EXACTLY as Franny wants them done. There is no other option if you want to volunteer. It’s Franny’s way or the highway. Thanks for all you have done in the past for the community Franny: now release your stranglehold on our city’s pride event, step aside, and let some some new blood bring new vision, new energy, fresh ideas, and a different perspective to our celebration. Our community deserves that much.”—Mike

We tried hard to find more responses from individuals who supported Philly Pride as it currently stands, and, to be frank, there weren’t any at the time of this publication.  All in all, the feedback we’ve received offers a sobering look at the fact that our community wants to see Pride up its game. So are you listening, Franny Price? The ball’s in your court.