JULY 2 0 0 0 U 0 LU M E 12 HRM8IR 7
SERVING WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA’S LESBIAN, CAY, BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENDERED COMMUNITY
NC PRIDE 2000 DRAWS 3500
By Lee Stinnett
If you missed N.C. Pride 2000 in
Durham on June 10, you probably don't
have the "lift" that participating in these
events provides. You know what I
mean if you have participated in other
Pride parades.
This year's annual event to call attention
to the civil rights of GLBT people was
well-organized, colorful and fun (if you
don't count the eight-hour round-trip
commute from Asheville to Durham).
The sendoff of the parade, at about 1
p.m. on a sweltering Saturday after
noon, set a patriotic tone for the
marchers, including the National
Anthem and "Stars and Stripes Forever",
from the N.C. Pride Marching Band.
The prayer bestowing blessings on the
day's events was the most ecumenical
imaginable and left nothing out, not
even the critters in the sea and all the
plants that cover the earth.
The Pride 2000 organizers crisply told
us what to do and what we needed to
know. They seemed to know what they
were doing, and the march began more
or less on time. The route led marchers
on a stroll through Durham streets,
roughly encircling Duke University's
East Campus, site of the year 2000 pride
event. Durham city police provided
traffic control all along the way.
The parade route was lined with many
bystanders, though there were stretches
where the only folks who saw us were
frustrated passengers trapped in vehi
cles whose progress was thwarted by
the march. No cheers from those cor
ners!
Despite temperatures in the 90s, good
sprits were aplenty, both among the
marchers and the onlookers.
One of the largest contingents in the
parade marched behind a blue-and-
white banner that proclaimed, "Parents,
Friends, and Family of Straight People."
Maybe there was a serious underlying
message, but the sign drew cheers and
laughter all along the route.
The smallest contingent in the parade
was a foursome — two identically mus-
tached thirty-something dads with good
haircuts, clad in matching army-green
walking shorts and white T-shirts,
pushing identical navy-blue strollers,
each with a tot in matching baby-blue
ensembles. The sign above the baby car
riages included the rainbow symbol and
identified the "group" as "Men with
Strollers."
•One graphics-arts business along the
Durham route replaced Old Glory with
the rainbow flag for the occasion.
•One dad — presumably straight —
stood outside a shop and pumped his
infant's elbow so that the child waved to
the marchers. Likely it was the infant's
first parade.
• One lone man stood at a corner where
the march made its first 90-degree turn.
He held a huge sign that read, "Stop
clown abuse of elephants!" When
someone from the Asheville group,
hollered to him, "What does that
mean?" He swirled the sign around, to
show the other side, which said,
"Elephant abuse begins at home!" And
from somewhere else, he produced
another sign that stated, "Support the
Million Elephant March on
Washington!" He waved and we waved
back.
One of my fellow marchers told me
there was a sole Bible-thumping pro
tester along the route, ranting that that
homosexuals were going to hell. In all of
the excitement of the day, I didn't even
notice him.
Although some Ashevillians were spot
ted among the contingents of various
groups, including Parents and Friends
of Lesbians and Gays (P-FLAG), a
dozen marchers strode behind the ban
ner of Asheville's newly founded GLBT-
rights group, the Blue Ridge Equality
Alliance. The BREA bunch received
cheers from bystanders all along the
route. Was it because we were from
Asheville? Perhaps. Or was it because
BREA was the only contingent in the
whole parade that sported politically
edgy signs.
"Jesse Helms is the REAL Crime
Against Nature!" proclaimed one of the
signs created on the spot by BREA
member Linda Oakleaf. "Can the
Crimes Against Nature Act!!!" read
another. "Not tonight, dear. It's a
felony," said a third sign. "I agree!"
shouted many of the applauding
onlookers.
NC Pride continued on page 20