Sydni Hampton is a Kentucky-born trans woman who manages the Louisville Pride Center, an LGBTQ community center in the Old Louisville neighborhood. The center is a component of the Louisville Pride Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that supports the health and wellness of all Louisvillians, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
“Our vision is that Louisville is a safe and affirming community, where every person is empowered to thrive as their true, whole self,” Hapton said. The organization produces the Louisville Pride Festival, a free community celebration held in September on Bardstown Road in the Highlands. But there is more to LGBTQ culture than flags and festivals.
“A lot of organizations mostly exist to throw a huge festival once a year, and a couple of events here and there,” Hapton says. “But what’s different about the Louisville Pride Foundation is that [the festival] is just a small piece of the work that we do.”
The Louisville Pride Center hosts social events like Paint with Pride, an artmaking event that offers free supplies; Just Talking, a social support group; and self-defense classes led by certified martial artist Jade Callisto, who is also a drag queen. The center hosts vaccination clinics and on-site testing for HIV, Mpox, COVID-19, and influenza. They also offer a donation-based food pantry. In the current climate of social and political crisis, the food pantry at the Louisville Pride Center is more vital than ever.
A Rainbow Of Nutritious Food Options
Kentucky has a higher percentage of households that are food insecure than the national average. Queer people are disproportionately susceptible to food insecurity. Growing up in Bullitt County, Hapton was food insecure herself. “Like many Americans living in rural areas,” she said. “[There are] not a lot of options for healthy food for parents who are working very hard and don’t have a lot of time to cook healthy meals, or can’t afford healthy ingredients.”
Inspired by her own lived experience, Hampton started a food pantry at the Louisville Pride Center in August 2024. Between August and December, the food pantry served 470 people. The food pantry is open on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. She describes the vibe as: “People come in, they don’t have to disclose their immigration status. They don’t have to show us their gay card. They don’t have to do anything. They just show up and we’re happy to serve them.”
The food pantry at the Louisville Pride Center strives to provide healthier options. “It’s like a little grocery down there, like a very small bodega in the basement,” Hapton said. “We have baby food, sometimes diapers. I try to have cat and dog food because people will feed their pets before they feed themselves. I try to have soap, shampoo, toothbrushes, toothpaste.” The food pantry also has a refrigerator and a freezer. “We try our best to keep [them] stocked with milk, butter, cheese, meat … And we have recipe cards!”
Most of the funding for the Louisville Pride Center comes from grants, some of which are federal and might soon come under scrutiny. The food pantry is supported primarily with donations, so the most impactful funding comes directly from fellow Louisvillians. “We have donation links on the website. Five dollars a month can go a long way if enough people donate.” Hampton also hosts fundraisers to keep the food pantry as well stocked as possible. “I do drag shows with a theme. We did a Bob’s Burgers one not too long ago that raised a lot of money for the Pride Center.”
“Whatever You Do to the Least of These”
According to an average of all Gallup polls in 2023, 68% of Americans identify as Christian. According to Pew Research Center findings, 76% of Kentuckians identify as Christian, the majority of whom identify as Evangelical Protestants. More than half of Evangelical Protestants in the U.S. believe that LGBTQ lifestyles should be discouraged by society. But despite such widespread opposition against LGBTQ people, Hampton is living the core values that embody Christ: love, compassion, integrity, and justice.
Hampton was raised in a Pentecostal household and groomed to be a preacher. “My dad really wanted me to be a preacher,” she said. “But from a young age, I knew I was queer. I struggled with that a lot.”
She understood and accepted her own sexual orientation and gender identity when she was 18 years old. Soon after that, she moved to Louisville, where she discovered drag as well as a sense of community among LGBTQ people. “I found a little chosen family while I didn’t have a [biological] family to rely on,” Hapton said.
Now 32 years old, Hampton feels more closely aligned with her values. “Before I started to have my own struggles with the narratives being delivered from the pastor, I was taught compassion,” she said. “And that’s the stuff that — even as a young kid — really stuck with me. Jesus was friends with everyone. He was friends with the poor and the sick and the sex workers. He preached love and forgiveness, compassion, kindness. And those are the pillars of the work that I do today.”
Hapton might not have grown up to be the preacher that her dad always wanted her to be, but her work at the Louisville Pride Center is nonetheless a nurturing force in Louisville. “I am a preacher in a way. I just do it in a wig and I do it in a bar,” she said. “I think it’s all-around slay freaking work. I love it.”
This article appears in Jan 31 – Feb 13, 2025.
