A National Cherry Festival parade became a lightning rod for controversy today (Thursday) when a pro-life organization in Traverse City announced on social media that it had been “denied our access” to the event. The parade in question, the Consumers Energy Community Royale Parade, is scheduled to take place downtown starting at 6:30pm this evening.

The pro-life group, Grand Traverse Area Right to Life (GTARTL), claimed that it had been “confirmed as a walking unit [in the parade] several weeks ago” by Cherry Festival officials, but that the festival ended up revoking that permission “late [Wednesday] night.” The removal relates to the festival’s parade rules, which prohibit any floats or walking units that have a political bent or concern any “controversial” or “social” issue.

GTARTL describes itself on its website as “a nonpartisan, nonsectarian, nonprofit organization of diverse and caring people united to peacefully protect the precious gift of human life from fertilization to natural death.” The group is vocally against a range of “identified life issues,” including abortion and assisted suicide, and strives “to achieve the passage and ratification of a Human Life amendment.”

Since May, GTARTL has been promoting its involvement in the Community Royale Parade, describing that involvement as a “march with the Grand Traverse Area Teens for Life.” A now-removed entry in the Cherry Festival’s interactive parade program previously listed GTARTL as part of the confirmed lineup for the Community Royale Parade, with a description in the program that read as follows: “The GTARTL, a nonprofit organization who advocates for the protection of human life, marching alongside the St. Francis High School Marching Band!” GTARTL’s old parade slot – number 49 – is now listed as “SCRATCH - Celebrating National Cherry Festival's 97th Year” in the online program.

The GTARTL parade entry drew criticisms in recent days from locals who argued that it constituted a violation of the National Cherry Festival’s rules and regulations. Specifically, in a “General Rules for Parade Entries” document linked on the Cherry Festival website, one of the first rules states: “Any Entries sponsored by, advocating for, or depicting any political organization or controversial issue [or] social issue are NOT permitted.” The rules also state that “NO CAMPAIGNING IS ALLOWED.” Per the document, these rules and others “apply to all entries” in any of the Cherry Festival parades. Notably, organizations that might be seen as the “opposition” to an entity like GTARTL – such as Planned Parenthood – do not have a presence in any 2023 Cherry Festival parade.

Despite the Cherry Festival’s rules, the organization has allowed parade entries from GTARTL and Grand Traverse Area Teens for Life on numerous occasions in previous years. A search of the word “parade” on the GTARTL Facebook page returns posts about the organization’s Cherry Festival parade participation dating back to 2016, including photos of participants marching with t-shirts and banners that included pro-life messaging.

“I would like the rules that the Cherry Festival has to be upheld, and to me, [GTARTL] seems like a ‘political issue’ type of an organization,” says Karen Roofe, a local community member and business owner, and one of the people who contacted the Cherry Festival to oppose the GTARTL entry. “I'm happy that the Cherry Festival organization reevaluated and looked at that entry from a different lens. It doesn't matter to me if somebody is pro-life or pro-choice; I certainly have my own personal feelings. I think for me, the issue was the fact that [the Cherry Festival] are really clear about their stance on what their rules are and who they do and don't allow. And I think this one just fell through the cracks. I don't think anybody did anything maliciously, but I'm glad that they reevaluated, regardless of what has happened in the past.”

Cherry Festival Executive Director Kat Paye provided The Ticker with the following statement:

"To the best of my knowledge the Grand Traverse Area Right to Life has not filled out a Parade application in the last 5 years.

Grand Traverse Area Right to Life will not be marching in today’s Community Royale Parade. Due to a clerical error and oversight, the Grand Traverse Area Right to Life application was mistakenly approved; however it has been denied. Our rules prevent us from allowing groups promoting social, political, or controversial issues from marching in our parade. We are not endorsing nor condoning the organization or their objectives; we are simply following our own policy and rules. We apologize for the misunderstanding and inconvenience, and hope everyone will still continue to join us in our community celebration of the National Cherry Festival."