After canceling due to COVID-19, Out! Raleigh Pride to go virtual starting Friday
Out! Raleigh Pride moves to a virtual platform this weekend, offering more than two-days of free events for the LGBTQ community.
The festivities start Friday and include a Drag Queen Story Hour, voter information session, youth Pride prom, Dance Party, film screenings, panel discussions and workshops.
Most will be streamed online, though some workshops require people to register. The full schedule is at www.outraleighpride.org.
Organizers wrestled with trying to hold an in-person event in June but decided to postpone for a year. because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We have wanted to make sure people had a space where they felt welcome,” said Kori Hennessey, director of education and programs at the LBGT Center of Raleigh. “Where they felt like they could be themselves. Not that we shied away from this in the past, but we wanted to lift up the voices of our Black and brown and transgender community members because of what is all going on.”
Stonewall Riots and LGBTQ rights
Pride is normally celebrated in June to mark the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, a series of violent clashes between members of the LGBTQ community and police after raids at the Stonewall Inn in New York. The 1969 riots are often credited as the start of the modern fight for LGBTQ rights in the United States.
“The movement started with Black, transgender women,” said Hennessey, who uses they/them pronouns.
“It is a reminder of where we came from, a reminder of what we are fighting for. We are fighting for equal rights,” they said. “But it is also a time for us to sit back and relax and celebrate who we are and celebrate with our community. A lot of us can’t go through our daily lives without having some sort of struggle or dealing with discrimination. This is a time to focus on us.”
It’s also the largest fundraiser for the center to be able to serve the LGBTQ community. The virtual Out! Raleigh Pride won’t bring in as much money as the in-person events, but it will also be less expensive.
“This is definitely more important for visibility and representation and space for the community than anything,” Hennessey said. The center is trying to be creative to save money including moving into a smaller space during the coronavirus pandemic.
Pride began as a protest, said Lindsay Lughes, executive director of the LBGT Center of Raleigh, in an email to community members at the end of June.
“The LGBT Center of Raleigh will always stand with the most marginalized in our communities,” she said. “We will aspire to embrace the spirit of Stonewall during Pride month and every month. We will continue to challenge ourselves every day to be an actively anti-racist LGBT Center.”
There’s hope of returning downtown next year. Organizers have secured Fayetteville Street for Out! Raleigh Pride on Sunday, June 6, 2021.
Details
What: Virtual Out! Raleigh Pride
When: 11 a.m. Aug. 7 to 8 p.m. Aug. 9
Where: www.outraleighpride.org and www.Facebook.com/OutRaleighPride
Cost: Free. But donations to the LGBT Center of Raleigh can be made at www.lgbtcenterofraleigh.com. And the festival is holding a virtual vendor fair that can be found at www.outraleighpride.org/2020/vendor-fair.html
This story was originally published August 6, 2020 at 5:07 PM.
