More than 250,000 people are expected in uptown this weekend for the Charlotte Pride parade and street festival. The local celebration of LGBTQ visibility has grown exponentially since its humble beginnings at UNC Charlotte back in 1981.
Liz Schob, a spokesperson for Charlotte Pride, joined WFAE's Nick de la Canal to talk about what attendees can expect from the parade and festival this year.
Nick de la Canal: Let's start off with a really basic question: Why is Charlotte Pride in August when so many cities hold their celebrations in June, and in fact, Pride Month is June in the U.S.?
Liz Schob: Great question, and it's one that we actually get a lot. And there are two answers to that. The first one is Pride is year-round. Pride is 365 days a year. But we do things a little bit differently here in Charlotte. As you mentioned, we have National Pride Month in June. July we have Charlotte Black Pride Month, and in August we have Charlotte Pride. So, we get to celebrate it all summer long, which is really exciting.
The less exciting but, like, real reason that we do it this way is because frankly, our celebration is so massive and it's such a logistically complex event. Putting it in August allows us all enough time to plan and to get everyone in order, because it's just such a big event.
De la Canal: So, what can people expect this year, and is there anything new that you're excited about?
Schob: People can expect a lot of exciting things. We have over 40 hours of entertainment across five stages. One of them is brand new this year. Charlotte Black Pride will have a stage at the festival for the very first time this year. It's the Black On Purpose stage, Saturday and Sunday on MLK (Boulevard). It's going to be really fun.
We have the Charlotte Gaymers Network. They have a stage, a community stage which will transform into the parade stage on Sunday. We have our mainstage, we have our VIP area, youth and family. We've got all sorts of exciting things planned.
De la Canal: What about the presence of police officers at Pride? This has been a debate in many cities, especially following the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020. And that year, Charlotte Pride banned law enforcement groups from marching in the parade. What's the status this year?
Schob: So all city employees, including CMPD, are welcome to march with the city. We work very closely with CMPD to make sure everyone is safe. So, yeah, you will see some CMPD officers there. And anyone who is a member of CMPD that wants to march in the parade is welcome to march with the city of Charlotte.
De la Canal: OK. Another topic that I hear a lot in LGBTQ circles is how Pride has become so corporate. You walk down the street, all you see is a bunch of brands. Many groups marching in the parade are companies. Do you think Charlotte Pride has become too corporate?
Schob: I don't. I think you have to strike a balance. And we are such a big event and we are free. I would encourage folks who are critical of the fact that we do take corporate sponsors to put your money where your mouth is. Donate to Charlotte Pride and you help us keep it free — because, frankly, it is a very expensive event.
And I would also like to counter this notion that it is completely taken over by corporations. Because if you look at our festival zone — you can check out our mobile app and you can see the list of all of the vendors — most of them are actually local. We have a lot of nonprofits, a lot of small businesses. So it has not been taken over by corporations.
De la Canal: Finally, this is an election year, and we've seen many states, including North Carolina, pass legislation banning gender transition health care for minors, even talk about banning public drag performances. I'm curious if that changes the tone of this year's parade and festival. Are you thinking of this as more of a protest or a celebration?
Schob: Well, Pride has always been a protest, from the roots of Stonewall. Our very existence as members of the community — of the LGBTQ community — has been politicized.
Last year we were very firm about advocacy, and this year we are very firm as well. So you will see a large voter registration push. We have actively partnered with the Carolinas LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce, the Freedom Center for Social Justice and others on a "Clack the Vote" initiative, getting out the vote.
The Charlotte Pride Festival takes place Saturday and Sunday in uptown Charlotte. The Charlotte Pride Parade steps off on North Tryon Street at 1 p.m. Sunday.
