Almost 100 LGBT students and allies from NC State, decked out in rainbow-colored attire, marched with the NC State GLBT CommUNITY Alliance in the 32nd annual NC Pride Festival parade at Duke University’s East Campus on Saturday.
“It’s nice to get out there, to be open and to be out,” said Alicia Criswell, the community chair for GBLTCA and a sophomore studying English language, writing and rhetoric.
With the weekend’s events spanning across Durham, Raleigh and Chapel Hill and more than 60 vendors, 15 large floats and 88 groups participating, NC Pride continues to be the biggest event in the state celebrating gender expression and sexual orientation.
Hundreds of students from Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill, NC State and other area schools marched in unity with people from North Carolina.
“There are more people out here than last year,” said Ryan Levine, a member of GBLTCA and a sophomore studying fisheries and wildlife science and wildlife conservation. “So many people have been driven against people like [Gov.] Pat McCrory that have dehumanized part of our community and made us feel as if we’re not welcome in our own state.”
The parade encompassed a two-mile loop of the streets in Durham, with law enforcement officers blocking off roadways to oncoming traffic while clapping and cheering on attendees of the event.
Many church groups were also among the supporters at NC Pride, waving signs that read “Love Conquers Hate” and “Jesus Loves You.”
“There are so many less protesters,” Criswell said. “Every year there’s less.”
This year has been very challenging for the LGBT community with the recent passage of House Bill 2, forcing individuals to use bathrooms that correspond to the sex stated on their birth certificates.
“First of all it’s fun but also in a year like this, it always means something important,” Levine said. “But this year with HB2 and other legislation across this country that has affected the transgender part of our community, it’s really important to be out there as a full community to show, along with the allies, that we are a large community, we have strength in numbers, we are also a diverse community and we will stand up for each other in the face of hate.”
GBLTCA as well as the GLBT Center and their programs hope to reach more students in the coming year. Criswell hopes to one day see a Pride event hosted on NC State’s campus.
“It would be really good for our campus community,” Criswell said. “Because I feel like no matter how much outreach we do, there will still be people who don’t know we exist, so it would be cool to get the word out.”
Criswell along with other GBLTCA members would also like to see more diversity education throughout courses on campus.
“I know NC State is welcoming, but maybe more educational events to help people understand microaggressions and what homophobia really looks like, it’s not usually outright,” Criswell said. “In those introductory classes that everyone has to take their freshman year, why not have a week on diversity education?”
NC State students from the GLBT Community Alliance throw up wolfies at the Pride Parade held at Duke University on Saturday. Students rallied support by spreading the message of acceptance at the event.
