I think a lot of people will show up just to make the point that they are not scared," Burford said, predicting the event will reflect both solidarity within the LGBT community and resistance to state officials. "I wouldn't be surprised if (Charlotte Pride) cracks 200,000 attendance.
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For a short time, the gay community assumed earning the right to marry meant the fight for gay rights had been won.
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Joshua Burford of UNC Charlotte's Multicultural Resource Center says HB2 has changed the dynamic of Charlotte Pride. The added security could also prove useful if protesters show up in support of HB2. That allows officers more leeway in stopping people and conducting searches. Organizers say they have seen a 10 percent jump in applications to participate in the parade (130-plus), indicating this will be the biggest gay pride parade ever in the Carolinas.Ĭharlotte-Mecklenburg police appear to have anticipated that last month, when they announced they were raising the security level at the festival to the highest possible status. HB2 is expected to drive up attendance among LGBT people, their straight supporters and companies seeking to make clear their opposition to HB2. HB2 was created specifically to keep a Charlotte nondiscrimination law from going into effect this year, making the city ground zero in the ongoing national debate over civil rights for lesbians, gays and transgender people. The latter nullified all municipal nondiscrimination ordinances in the state, many of which protected LGBT people from discrimination. Several parade contingents have announced they intend to highlight such issues as the murder of 49 LGBT people at an Orlando nightclub in June and the passage of North Carolina's House Bill 2. That's pretty much how Charlotte Pride started nearly 25 years ago, and organizers say they'd be pleased if that spirit returns to the two-day affair, particularly for the annual parade Sunday on North Tryon Street, from 1 to 3 p.m. General Assembly is expected to turn this year's uptown festival and parade into one big civil rights march.
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But organizers say six months of anti-gay rhetoric from the N.C. CHARLOTTE, NC (Mark Price/The Charlotte Observer) - Crowds of as many as 120,000 people have made Charlotte's annual gay pride affair a tourist attraction.