Will nonbinary musician play at Sedgwick County Fair? Board will decide in secret meeting
The Sedgwick County Fair Board will hold a secret meeting Tuesday to decide whether a local nonbinary musician will be allowed to perform on opening night after their inclusion sparked outrage on social media.
Hunter Gromala was originally scheduled to perform on opening night, July 12, at the fairgrounds in Cheney. The Facebook event for Gromala’s set is currently listed as canceled.
“When we posted the event on Friday, we had a pretty ginormous response on kind of both sides of the fence — people wanting to come see Hunter and another group that seemed to have a problem with Hunter performing at all,” said Marti Johnson, vice president of the fair board.
“Sedgwick County Fair is kind of a conservative locale. Let’s just put it that way,” she said.
Gromala, 26, who grew up in Wichita and uses they/them pronouns, told The Eagle that fair organizers told them to turn over their set list for the show so the board can “make sure it’s not inappropriate.” That list consists exclusively of rock and pop covers.
“I sing the music that I sang as a child in the car. I sing the music that makes me happy,” Gromala said.
“It’s just kind of ridiculous really because I don’t market myself as a nonbinary person. I don’t say, ‘Hey, come to my super queer concert.’ I don’t do that. It’s not even a part of my act . . . I don’t want them to see me as a nonbinary person first. I want them to hear my music and then be like, ‘Oh, I’m a fan of them. Oh wait, they’re them.’”
Johnson would not say when or where the fair board will meet on Tuesday to decide if the show will go on.
“We’re not disclosing that. We are a nonprofit corporation and the venue where we meet is A, not public and B, not very big,” she said.
The Sedgwick County Fair Association, which puts on the fair and owns the fairgrounds, receives more than $29,000 annually from the county.
“Contact the Sedgwick County fair board and demand that they not bring this corruption and disgusting agenda to our children!” one person posted on Facebook in response to the fair announcing Gromala’s performance. “Sedgwick County, you are turning woke and it absolutely makes my stomach turn . . . Do not try to desensitize our children to your evil agenda!!!!!”
“If Kansas/Sedgwick County continues to side with the bigots and erase trans and enby folk, you will reap what you sow,” another user posted. “This is OUR home. We grew up here. Stop sexualizing our identities. Stop pushing your religion agenda. You cannot and will not erase us.”
Gromala, who has 51,000 followers on TikTok and 15,000 followers on Instagram, said the social media firestorm has served as viral marketing for the show they still hope to put on.
“Your hate comments are hard launching my career. You realize that now, right?” Gromala said. “No one cared about me opening the Sedgwick County Fair . . . Now I have all these people saying, ‘I’m going to go to the county fair for the first time just to see you perform.’”
Gromala, who has been performing locally for about a year and releasing music on Spotify and other streaming services, said the outpouring of support has “outshined and outweighed the negativity.”
“As of now, especially with all of the support of the community and with all the positivity, I feel like now I have to [perform],” Gromala said. “I have to show that I’m not going to be hidden. There’s nothing to hide. This is just who I am. I am appropriate. You guys are upset about nothing.”
Johnson said circulating rumors about a potential security threat if Gromala performs are unfounded, and security measures will be in place at the fair. She said the board’s decision will be based on what members believe fairgoers want to see.
“We need to everybody take a deep breath and calm down for a minute and look at whether or not that’s a good fit for the fair and whether or not that’s going to bring folks out to the fair,” Johnson said.
The board’s decision will be made public after the secret meeting, she said.
