Duke Celebrates N.C. Pride on Sept. 24
Annual parade and festival in Durham is one of the largest LGBTQ+ events in the state
One of the oldest and largest annual celebrations in North Carolina for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) community is returning to Duke’s East Campus on Sept. 24.
N.C. Pride expects to bring together about 10,000 people and nearly 200 vendors for a two-mile parade around East Campus at 1 p.m. and festival from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on East Campus.
“When we first started N.C. Pride in 1986, Duke was the only place that allowed us to have space,” said John Short, N.C. Pride’s director. “N.C. Pride was a small picnic by the East Campus gazebo, and Duke was the only institution or facility in North Carolina that would allow that to happen. We’ve had long-term support from Duke for the LGBTQ community.”
On Sept. 24, festivities will begin at 8:30 a.m. with the N.C. Pride 5K Run at the corner of West Main Street and Campus Drive. Floats will begin lining up next to East Campus on West Main Street at 11:30 a.m. for the 1 p.m. parade. The parade, which includes a float sponsored by Duke’s Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity, will make its way down West Main Street to Broad Street and along Ninth Street as part of the loop.
Duke community members and their spouses, partners and other family members are invited to walk with Duke’s float; those interested must meet at the Duke float along West Main Street before 1 p.m. Duke individuals who want to ride the float during the parade must email Skye Wilson, the Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity’s student development coordinator, at skye.wilson@duke.edu. Duke will provide face paint, banners, flags and decorations.
“It’s really encouraging just to have folks coming together and just showing that we are all one,” Wilson said about participating in N.C. Pride. “We’re celebrating and sharing moments of happiness without forgetting what we’re fighting for. We’re fighting for visibility, fighting for understanding and fighting for proper legislation.”
This year, the parade is expected to include about 10 large floats, 40 cars and 100 marching groups, as well as the Triangle Pride Band, comprised of musicians from North Carolina, Atlanta, D.C. and Charlotte; N.C. Representative and Equality NC Executive Director Chris Sgro will serve as parade marshal; and Durham Police Department Chief Cerelyn "C.J." Davis will walk in the parade.
This will be the third N.C. Pride celebration that Steven Soto has attended while at Duke. Soto, a Duke public policy student and president of Blue Devils United, a LGBTQ+ organization for Duke undergraduates, said the weekend event is about bringing the community together.
“If you can find an outlet, whether it’s on a float or in a dorm room with close friends, just to have time to feel proud or to feel safe and to feel affirmed, then that’s kind of the best way to do it,” Soto said. “It doesn’t always have to be waving a flag. Whatever makes you feel affirmed that day is the best way for you to celebrate Pride.”
On the day of the parade, no parking will be available along Campus Drive. All other East Campus entrances will only be accessible to individuals with an appropriate Duke parking permit.
There will be free parking available and a parking attendant on duty at Smith Warehouse on the corner of Maxwell Avenue and South Buchanan Boulevard; parking lot gates will be up to allow access, and a Duke permit is not needed. Free ADA accessible parking will be available for individuals with disabilities in the lot next to the Bevan (Coca-Cola) Building between South Buchanan Boulevard and West Peabody Street. See the map below for details.
