Gay pride parade ‘free from fear’

About 60 UNC students rode the UNC float in the 25th annual N.C. Pride parade on Saturday. DTH Photos/Eli Sinkus

“Kings, queens and everything in between,” UNC’s regally themed float, held about 60 students donning everything from Burger King crowns and rainbow-feathered wings to sweaters and jeans.

The float rode through Duke’s East Campus on Saturday afternoon as part of the 25th annual N.C. PrideFest.

“Our float’s theme symbolizes the royalty we give to each other in the community. It represents the respect we’ve earned through our struggles,” said junior Brett Kessler, who wore Mardi Gras beads.

The festival is now marked more by celebration than protest, but it hasn’t always been that way.

North Carolina’s first pride event was in 1981, said Keith Hayes, spokesman for N.C. Pride. He said it was a spontaneously organized solidarity march when a local man was killed for being presumed gay.

“The country and the Triangle has moved so far away from that, and now the parade is really about celebrating what we have accomplished for gay civil rights — free from fear,” Hayes said.

Terri Phoenix, the director of the UNC LGBTQ Center, recalled a smaller-scale N.C. Pride parade in 1990. She said there were no elaborate flatbed floats like UNC’s this year, which was complete with a colorful throne made of boas and tissue paper.

“More people feel safe to be visible now,” she said, adding that the emotion was reason for celebration.

A diverse mix of thousands of spectators, including straight couples, middle school students and families, lined Ninth Street, Broad Street and West Main Street in Durham. The mile-long parade included more than 2,000 marchers.

Although tame protestors shouted scripture through bullhorns from the corner of Swift Avenue and West Main Street, they were outnumbered by the churches that joined the parade in support.

Imani Metropolitan Community Church of Durham had a float carrying members who wore shirts that vertically spelled “GAY,” standing for “God Adores You.”

A roller-skating Jesus glided about 50 feet behind the UNC float carrying a cross that read “Love God and Your Neighbor.”

Not all aspects were as colorful as the gyrating dance moves from the Legends Night Club’s float. Some celebration was as simple as holding hands with a partner.

“A lot of times, people feel like they have to be quiet about who they are and what they really think,” said Noel Bynum, co-president of UNC’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender-Straight Alliance.

Despite the wet weather, the upbeat music and impromptu sidewalk dance parties proved Hayes’ description correct.

“It is the largest feel-good gay event in the gay community of North Carolina.”

Contact the Features Editor at features@unc.edu.