Ron Sanford is Bringing Pride to Punta Cana

By Lloyd McDonald • Photos Courtesy Ron Sanford

Ron Sanford, owner of Ron Sanford Productions, has owned a house in Punta Cana for several years and has enjoyed a lot of the island’s culture and natural beauty; however, there isn’t a thriving gay scene there. This has inspired him to start his newest venture – Gay Pride in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (DR).

When asked what inspired Sanford to undertake such a large project, he stated, “It is time, and Punta Cana is the place for it to start. There is a large LGBT population here on the island and throughout the Caribbean, and many people in the LGBT community have moved to Punta Cana but are still living closeted.” He attributed the move to Punta Cana to the fact that it’s a tourist town with many resorts and the tourist atmosphere and the hospitality industry (usually a haven for the LGBT community), which makes it easier to be themselves. He said that given the island’s deep cultural and religious traditions, many residents are still closeted, but in a tourist city it’s easier to be more comfortable being a little truer to themselves than elsewhere.

A Trip Back in Time
To truly comprehend Sanford’s work and life of service to the greater LGBT community, a trip back to the ‘80s and early ‘90s is necessary. In the early ‘80s, Sanford moved to Atlanta to get involved in the local LGBT scene — battling the bigotry and opposition the community faced and continues to face.

In 1982, Atlanta denied a parade permit petition for the first Atlanta Gay Pride; undeterred, Sanford and 300 other people began walking down the sidewalk making their own parade. As they were walking, people kept joining in — eventually forcing the parade to spill over into the street!

During this time, Sanford owned and managed several clubs in Atlanta, attracting some of the most renowned names in the drag business at the time. As the HIV/AIDS crisis continued to grow, most people were retreating; however, Sanford doubled down on his efforts, gaining even more notoriety in 1986 as Mr. Gay World.

He leveraged this notoriety to better the community, which included being part of the driving force that forced Cracker Barrel to ultimately change its stance toward the LGBT community. While recounting this,
Sanford said, “The best way to get the respect we deserve is with our dollars — not just as customers of these businesses, but as stockholders. As stockholders of publicly traded companies, we get to attend board meetings and make our voices heard and demand change, and this works!”

As the crisis continued into the ’90s, the large gay clubs were closing. That’s when Sanford transitioned his business into event planning, connecting with Ted Turner to create many of the larger events the Omni Atlanta had hosted. Later he got to work with Sir Elton John on events for the “Lion King.” In 1994, he moved back to Nashville to better care for his mother (family is everything for Sanford) and started managing the Connection bar while simultaneously working with the newly formed Nashville Pride.

Their first event in 1995 got rained out; however, instead of canceling the event, Sanford insisted they move the event to Connection. Connection hosted a blowout event for Pride 1995 — an event that has been going strong ever since.

Starting With a Vision
Pride has always been a big part of Sanford’s life — working with Atlanta Pride from 1982 to 1994 and the Nashville Pride board from 1995 to 2000. After these stints, he continued being heavily involved in Nashville Pride until his 2020 retirement. While preparing for this retirement in 2017, he purchased a house in Punta Cana. As he was getting settled there and preparing to start enjoying the next phase of his life, he noticed, despite Punta Cana’s large LGBT population, there were no LGBT-friendly establishments or Pride festivals.

Constantly being the man of action, Sanford took charge and formed the first Pride board-complete with board members by 2018, then working on non-profit status (a difficult undertaking in DR) only to have everything shut down in 2020. During this time Sanford did what he’s always done, think about the greater good of the LGBT community. In late 2021 he decided, “It was time to go big or go home! The best way to get things going was simply for me to start sponsoring events through Ron Sanford Productions, using my business to start raising money to better the community here in Punta Cana.”

Sanford started the groundwork by doing what he does best — planning and hosting parties — parties designed to provide safe spaces for LGBT people to meet, dance and feel like they aren’t being preyed on (which is very common in the DR). He said, “At first the reception wasn’t so great. Even with stated cameos from queens from “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” many people in the LGBT community simply didn’t trust what we were doing. These types of shows had been promoted and promoted, complete with queens — yet nothing ever materialized. Leaving people very skeptical.” Sanford said he proved himself and his parties when “the queens began using their social media to post pictures of themselves at famous places throughout Punta Cana — allowing people to see they really were on the island to do a show.”

Sanford’s vision for Pride in the DR is to start in Punta Cana with a festival in January (their high season) and make sure it is well funded and attended. Sanford’s doing this to build an LGBT legacy that can continue in Punta Cana. He said, “I know I won’t be around forever, so I want to ensure that the framework is in place to allow Pride to continue growing — even without me, eventually satelliting out to other cities. For example, Santo Domingo has some gay bars but most of the people there are stuck in the closet; we want to bring them out of the closet and the way we do that is with statistics on what we spend.”

At Sanford’s most recent party, Johnathon Klembert (Drag Klembert) said, “Ron, además de ser considerado por mi un maravilloso anfitrión, es un promotor y productor magistral que ha llegado a República Dominicana enhorabuena, con fantásticas ideas y eventos para la comunidad GLTBIQ+; Ron radicado en Punta Cana, creando eventos para el disfrute y el deleite de todos, trayendo artistas internacionales como las chicas legendarias de “RuPaul’s Drag Race” y dando oportunidad a las nacionales de alta calidad y cabe descartar cuanto aprendemos de su experiencia y de todo su entusiasmo.”

Translated this means, “In addition to being a wonderful host, Ron is a master promoter and producer who has arrived in the DR. Congratulations! Ron, based in Punta Cana, is [full of] fantastic ideas and events for the LGBTQI+ community— bringing international artists such as the legendary girls from “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and high-quality national queens. It is worth noting how much we can learn from their experience and enthusiasm.”

Like Klembert, most people in the DR speak Spanish, and, Sanford said, “speaking some Spanish can help while visiting the island, but it isn’t necessary. The Dominican people there will do anything they can to help and Google Translate is a great resource if you get stuck.”

This most recent party was the third in a series of monthly parties Sanford, Ron Sanford Productions and Punta Cana Pride are hosting to raise money and awareness for the main event in January. Sanford said, “to everyone planning to attend the festivities in January, WELCOME!” He’s always excited to talk about all the island has to offer, saying, “There are plenty of all-inclusive options in the two resort districts. If you want to live like a local, there are hotels, and Airbnbs, including many in Bavaro — situated between the two resort areas — this area offers various activities including public and private beaches, beach activities ranging from zip-lining to parasailing, deep-sea fishing to riding horses on the beach, and experiences like swimming with the dolphins or sharks. Did I mention the island has mountains and mountain activities, too?”

As far as places to eat, he stated, “There are dining options sure to fit any taste.” Sanford said, “with over twenty-five restaurants in Bavaro within walking distance, you have fine dining at places like Citrus, steak and seafood houses, as well as local, Cuban, Italian, and Mexican fare at local cafes.”

With excitement, Sanford’s parting words about Punta Cana were clear — “The resorts circulate lots of warnings and myths about safety in Punta Cana because they want you to stay there and spend your money with them; however, the warnings simply aren’t true! The people of Punta Cana are welcoming of all, and they have a very strong police force and private-duty armed security guards to ensure that everyone has a safe and memorable trip to the island.”