Group to hold Pride celebration in Fuquay-Varina despite lack of town support
The town of Fuquay-Varina did not formally recognize June as Pride Month, but public Pride festivities will still be held in the Wake County town Sunday.
LGBTQ residents privately organized a downtown Pride event in Fuquay-Varina that will begin with a gathering at 3:15 p.m. in front of the John W. Byrne Municipal Building and will be followed by a strut through town.
The strut will return to Brus on Main restaurant at 135 S. Main St., where the celebratory events will be held from 4 to 6 p.m.
“They won’t recognize Pride month, so I think it’s awesome that we are doing this event as a way to make sure the LGTBQ community knows they have support, even if the town won’t support them,” April Deddens, one of the event’s organizers, told The News & Observer.
The festivities will include events for families and children, such as a drag queen story hour, face-painting, a caricature artist and balloon animals.
Event sponsors include the LGBT Center of Raleigh and the Triangle area chapter of Drag Queen Story Hour, which recently organized a story hour event at the Pride festival in the town of Apex.
The Apex story hour event proved controversial as it was almost canceled after festival organizers received violent threats for hosting the event at the Pride festival, leading the mayor to pull it from the festival.
But it was restored, to the praise of the Triangle’s LGTBQ community, after Equality NC took over the event instead of the Apex Festival commission.
Like neighboring Holly Springs, the town of Fuquay-Varina has also not adopted a non-discrimination ordinance that would provide protections to people who identify as LGTBQ.
Organizers for Fuquay-Varina event said they were asked to note that it is not sponsored by the town, according to a Facebook event page.
A post about the event on the town’s Facebook page generated over 400 comments, a majority in support of the Pride celebration.
“We’ve gotten several questions today regarding an event on Sunday, June 26,” the town said in a Facebook post. “The Town of Fuquay-Varina has approved a Special Event Permit Request, required by town ordinance, for a Pride Celebration, which is a private event. Special Event permits are required for a variety of situations, including the use of public sidewalks, which this event will include. Questions about the event should be directed to the event organizers, not the town.”
Town commissioner Tracy Watson told The N&O she and at least one other commissioner have gotten backlash and harassment for supporting the June 26 event.
“I’m sure, yes, that there are some people that are against it and there are people that are happy to support it,” Watson said.
Organizers for the event collected $1,500 in donations from supporters to pay for security at Brus on Main after an event organizer saw a comment on social media from someone hoping the Proud Boys show up at the Pride event.
The Proud Boys, a far-right men’s hate group, have disrupted LGBTQ events across the country with violence and harassment, including recently at a Pride-themed story time event at a library in Wilmington.
There is no confirmation that the Proud Boys or protesters will be present, but hiring security was done as precaution, according to Deddens.
The issue of Pride Month proclamations and non-discrimination ordinances has been a major topic for several Wake County municipalities.
The Holly Springs Town Council has faced scrutiny and protests for deciding not to adopt the non-discrimination ordinance and rejecting a Pride Month declaration.
Thursday night, Cary joined Wake County’s non-discrimination ordinance that expands protections for LGBTQ people. The ordinance protects people against discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnicity, race, natural hair and hairstyles, pregnancy, veteran status and disability, The N&O reported.
Garner will consider joining on Tuesday.
This story was originally published June 24, 2022 at 3:44 PM.
