Twelve Year-Old Un-cancels Pride

The following was shared on Face Book on Saturday, the day of the cancelled Blue Ridge Pride festival. Every year, a few in the community question what this event is about and who it is for. Here's your answer. (Story shared with permission of the writer, the youth, and their family. Picture is from an earlier Pride Parade.)

I asked my neighbors what had they done on this beautiful day. They said they went to a Pride Parade, which confused me.  COVID had forced the cancellation of Asheville’s 2021 Blue Ridge Pride celebration, which would have been held today.

Where had they attended a Pride Parade.? Oh, in a North Asheville neighborhood. A child of one of their friends was so looking forward to the Pride Celebration. He had recently come out to his family and then the Big Event was cancelled.

The young man was 12, not yet a teen and this was a big moment for him. 

His family decided to have a Pride Parade in their neighborhood.

About 20 friends and Family had a parade down their neighborhood streets, Banners and a Rainbow Flag. Then they had a game of Gay Trivial Pursuit , the questions were hard for my Straight neighbors, but some answers they knew. The neighbors wished I had been the Ringer on their team.

So for me Blue Ridge Pride was not cancelled, it merely got spread around. This young man can go forward and bring to the world his best possible life, which will Bless us All.

How far we have come in 50 years.

1 thought on “Twelve Year-Old Un-cancels Pride”

  1. Avatar photo
    Butch Thompson

    Warms my heart to read such an inspirational story. Blue Ridge Pride Proud!

Comments are closed.

Scroll to Top