How to celebrate Charlotte Pride this year virtually (thanks COVID-19).
It’s been quite a month for LGBTQ rights.
As the nation mourned the four-year anniversary of the mass-shooting at Pulse nightclub, in which 49 people were killed, President Donald Trump overturned protections for transgender people from discrimination in healthcare. Then the US Supreme Court ruled in a landmark case on June 15 that LGBTQ employees are protected from discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
While North Carolina still has work to do, this latest Supreme Court decision comes midway through Pride month, celebrated every June nationwide.
Of course, COVID-19 has left its mark on this year’s celebration, as with everything else in town. Charlotte Pride and Charlotte Black Pride’s in-person celebrations were canceled in April over concerns of community spread of the coronavirus. But the celebration is far from over. Now, Pride festivities in Charlotte have shifted to become virtual.
Charlotte Pride created a Facebook group called LBGTQ Charlotte: Queerantine Edition. The group, with 600+ members, aims to build a community to spark conversations and celebrations during the summer.
Charlotte Pride is also hosting a series of Facebook Live broadcasts to encourage community engagement, even when the community is socially distanced. The broadcasts, live from the CLT Pride Facebook page, are scheduled for Wednesdays beginning at 6 p.m.
Upcoming broadcasts and discussion topics include:
June 17: The Women of Pride: A Conversation with Women Leaders in the Pride Movement.
June 24: The Legacy of Stonewall: A Conversation with Movement Leaders.
Charlotte Pride Festival and Parade
What was supposed to be the annual Charlotte Pride Festival and Parade Aug. 1 and Aug. 2 will now be online, said Matt Comer, communications director for Charlotte Pride.
Comer said the Charlotte Pride team is still working on logistics and is planning for an eight-hour live stream on Aug. 1 that will feature community entertainment, education and awareness programming. On Aug. 2, during the time that the parade was supposed to occur, Charlotte Pride is planning for a virtual parade.
In the next few weeks, Comer said Charlotte Pride will post details regarding how to participate in this virtual parade.
One option Comer suggested was setting up a socially-distanced parade through neighborhoods. Participants can video the individual events, then send to Charlotte Pride. All the clips would be put together to create one united virtual parade.
Other events Charlotte Pride is planning is an “Out and About with Charlotte Pride Scavenger Hunt” for the week leading up to the virtual festival. LGBTQ organizations and businesses will each have small prizes for participants to find, as well as historic LGBTQ sites for people to visit and check-in at.
“One of the things that we’re really excited about is the potential to reach folks who may not in a traditional, in-person event, be able to participate,” Comer said.
Comer said organizing these virtual events will allow Charlotte Pride to improve the accessibility of its events that can carry forward even when in-person events resume.
The July broadcast series has yet to be announced, but Charlotte Pride says on its website that the Wednesday broadcasts will continue. Discussion topics for future sessions include reform of the criminal justice system, LGBTQ youth and elders, and local LGBTQ-affirming interfaith programs.
Charlotte Black Pride is also hosting virtual events. On June 14, Charlotte Black Pride hosted part one of the three-part series called Sunday Conversations. Part one centered on discussions of the traumatic impact of racial injustice on Black LGBTQ people in America.
Other upcoming events from Charlotte Black Pride include Yoga for Black Liberation on Juneteenth, June 19, at 6:45 p.m. in Freedom Park. You can find more updates for virtual and in-person events from Charlotte Black Pride on Facebook.
This story was originally published June 16, 2020 at 4:56 PM.