Unleashed LGBTQ queer business festival marks successful first year
Wesley Smoot, right, said the first Unleashed LGBTQ festival went incredibly smoothly. (Photo by Adrian Lopez) CAROLINE SAVOIE | Contributing Writer CaroSavoWrites@gmail.com Photos by Adrian Lopez, Courtesy of Unleashed LGBTQ It’s been years since Dallas entrepreneur Wesley Smoot conjured up the idea for a live LGBTQ business festival, and on Sep.
22, he said, he got to witness that dream come alive. “It’s hard when you’re so busy planning everything in front of you, you forget how far you’ve come,” Smoot said. “I felt like I needed to prove myself, to show people that this kind of conference is possible.” The three-day festival, held Sept.
22-24 at Gilley’s Dallas, featured some of the most prominent names in the LGBTQ community, including Antoni Porowski of Netflix’s Queer Eye; Dyllón Burnside and Indya Moore of POSE; Billy Eichner of Bros; former Pennsylvania state Rep.
Brian Sims; NASCAR driver Zach Herrin; transgender rights advocate Naomi Green; Daniel Franzese of Mean Girls and at least a dozen other LGBTQ influencers and leaders, including Family Equality CEO Stacey Stevenson.
