New in the collection: Pride parade pinback

Pinback for Charlotte Pride Parade, 1994

 

“In Charlotte, the first Gay Pride Day was held in Marshall Park in 1980, where 50 to 60 participants pulled together an event unprecedented in the Queen City. As the community developed more social infrastructure and visibility, Charlotte won the bid to hold the statewide Pride festival in 1994….The idea of a celebration of this size in Charlotte galvanized local activists into a new era of activism and social change.”

— From “Lighting the Fuse” by Josh Burford in Creative Loafing (Aug. 13, 2015)

 

“The 2017 Charlotte Pride parade just set a record as the city’s largest annual parade, and on Sunday, the floats went on for hours.

“Nearly 5,000 people registered to march on Tryon Street, representing everything from Charlotte’s biggest banks to its gay bars and some of its churches….Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police expected up to 130,000 people at the two-day LGBT festival and parade over the weekend.”

— From “Celebrating over the rainbow” by Jane Wester in the Charlotte Observer (Aug. 27, 2017)