Duke Celebrates N.C. Pride on Sept. 26

Thousands of people will descend onto Durham this week as the North Carolina Pride Parade and Festival returns to downtown and Duke’s East Campus.

A full day of events is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 26, including a 5K run, music, dancing and speeches, culminating in a 2.5-mile parade and festival on East Campus. Parties will continue into the night in Raleigh and Durham to celebrate the return of the N.C. Pride Parade, an event to highlight the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (and/or questioning) community.

This will be the 31st time the parade has been held and its 15th year in Durham. The event started in 1981 but has been held continuously since 1986, bringing together groups from across the state representing a variety of civic, political, social, educational and religious organizations. 

“N.C. Pride is an event that people from all over North Carolina, not just Durham, look forward to attending,” said Bernadette Brown, director of Duke’s the Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity and grand marshal of this year’s parade. “It's exciting for us to be able to welcome LGBTQIA+ people, and those who support us, to this campus, and provide a space where they feel affirmed and can also have fun.”

The highlight of the celebration will be the parade, set to start at 1 p.m. at the Campus Drive-West Main Street intersection on East Campus. The 2.5-mile route moves down Main Street before taking a right onto Broad Street and looping around via Green and Ninth streets. A map of the route can be found on the N.C. Pride Parade website.

Durham resident John Short, volunteer executive director of the event, said he expects thousands of people to be among about 110 marching groups, which also will include 13 commercial floats and about 50 vehicles. After the parade, about 150 organizations and vendors will be on East Campus offering food, clothing and locally made items, Short said.

“Most gay, lesbian and transgender people live in a world in which they are the minority, but this event is one day a year we are in our own space that’s open and accepting,” Short said. “It’s an affirming space we can all feel safe in.”

Another way to describe the festivities is “authentic,” said Tyler Nelson, president of the Duke student group Blue Devils United. Nelson noted that this year’s event will have special meaning after the Supreme Court this summer ruled in favor of marriage equality for all 50 states.

“It helps us recognize the pride of being authentic and living who we are at Duke and in the real world,” he said.

Nelson, a senior, said he came out as gay at the end of his sophomore year because of support from the Duke community and events like the N.C. Pride Parade, which helps promote a more inclusive community.

“Pride is about taking up this positive space and saying it’s OK to be who you are,” he said. “Being our authentic selves isn’t tolerated, but celebrated.”

This year’s N.C. Pride Parade activities begin at 8:30 a.m. with a 5K run and walk open to the public. Cost is $25 before Sept. 24 and $30 for same-day registration. Advanced registration is available online. A full schedule of the day’s events is available on the N.C. Pride website.