2018 Issue 4 Jul/Aug - Focus Mid-South Magazine

travel
Eureka
A PLACE IN
Springs,
THE SUN
Arkansas
PENSACOLA
BEACH WELCOMES YOU
by Dana Cooper | photos courtesy Out In Eureka
Looking for a great way
to spend a few days this
summer? Head just a few
hours west to Eureka Springs,
Arkansas, where you’ll be
surrounded by breathtaking
natural scenery and original
Victorian architecture in the
Ozark Mountains.
Eureka Springs, which
was founded at the base of
Arkansas’ natural springs, still
has eight different bubbling
springs visitors can visit or
wade into. The town is also
known for its proximity to
two lakes, Beaver and Table
Rock, and the White River.
Visitors can rent a pontoon,
paddleboat or canoe and
spend the day fishing,
frolicking, or simply floating.
“Eureka Springs is sort
of known as an adult
playground,” said Jay Wilks,
the director of Out in Eureka,
Eureka Springs’ LGBTQ+
organization. Thirty-eight
percent of Eureka Springs’
population identifies as
LGBTQ+, according to Wilks,
and Out in Eureka plays a
prominent role in ensuring the
community remains tightly
knit.
The journey to become
inclusive has been challenging.
A 2015 New York Times article
explains that Eureka Springs
and nearby Fayetteville
passed city ordinances that
offered anti-discrimination
protection to its LGBTQ+
citizens – protection denied by
the state itself – a move that
was supported by the majority
of voters in the communities
in question. According to
the article, there was some
backlash from conservative
leaders, who cited Eureka
Springs’ decision to become
inclusive as responsible for
driving away prospective
Christians from visiting
the town and its renowned
Passion Play, which features
a reenactment of Jesus’
crucifixion and resurrection.
Unfortunately, in 2017, the
Arkansas Supreme Court ruled
the town’s anti-discrimination
ordinance in violation of
state law, according to CBS
News. Attorneys for the
state charged that enforcing
anti-discrimination law at
the local level would force
Christian businesses to serve
patrons whose “lifestyles”
they did not support or agree
with. The article explains that
there are three states in the
country – Arkansas, Tennessee
and North Carolina – that
ban municipal-level antidiscrimination
ordinances for
groups of people not already
covered under broader state
legislation. In Arkansas,
state law does not protect
individuals from discrimination
on the basis of sexual
orientation or gender identity.
The good news is that the
fight has not stopped there.
The American Civil Liberties
Union of Arkansas reports that
lower courts are challenging
the constitutionality of the
state’s local ordinance ban.
For the time being, antidiscrimination
efforts are
being upheld by each town’s
businesses of their own
volition, and Wilks says it’s
hard to find a place in Eureka
Springs that isn’t welcoming
of its LGBTQ+ citizens and
visitors.
Wilks, who has been the
Billed as the ‘largest kiss-off’ in the Midwest, PDA (Public
Display of Affection) in the Park is an event for everyone.
The event is part of OutEureka’s Diversity Weekend, the next
weekend of which is coming up in August, 2018.
director of Out in Eureka since
2017, says that the group’s
Diversity Weekends, which
are hosted every April, August
and November, are too good
to miss. Diversity Weekends
typically bring in crowds of up
to 2,000 people, some from
as far away as Canada. This
says a lot for a town with a
population of 2,100.
This summer’s Diversity
Weekend will open with a
one-man performance by the
award-winning playwright and
director Del Shores. Shores,
whose comedies tackle
issues of great importance
to the LGBTQ+ community –
marriage equality being chief
among those in plays such
as “A Very Sordid Wedding,”
which was recently featured
as part of OUTMemphis’
OUTFlix Film Festival – will
be performing Friday, August
3, at The Auditorium, Eureka
Springs’ largest event venue.
Saturday’s day-long festival,
Diversity in the Park, held in
Basin Springs Park, is openaccess
and family-friendly,
with vendors, food and
entertainment for all.
Another must-see event that
takes place as part of Diversity
Weekend is PDA in the Park,
which Wilks describes as
the “largest kiss-off in the
Midwest.” For the uninitiated,
PDA stands for “public display
of affection,” and everyone
in the park is welcome, even
encouraged, to take part.
If you have time to spend in
Eureka Springs after Diversity
Weekend has wrapped up,
you’ll still find plenty to do.
Outdoor enthusiasts will find
ample opportunities for hiking
– the town is in the Ozarks,
after all – and a multitude of
boutiques and magnificent
spas are packed into the
Downtown area. Wilks says it
doesn’t matter which one you
visit; they’re all worth stopping
into.
“There’s just so much to do
in Eureka Springs,” Wilks says.
“If you’re bored here, it’s your
own fault.”
Page 36 / focusmidsouth.com / JUL+AUG 2018 / Splash