'More than just a festival'
Charlotte Pride is the leader in LGBTQ visibility in Charlotte and the Carolinas. We present and collaborate on programs, projects, and activities, including the annual Charlotte Pride Festival and Parade, Charlotte Latinx Pride, Charlotte Trans Pride, Charlotte Women’s Pride, Charlotte Pride Interfaith Programs, and Reel Out Charlotte, The Queen City’s Annual LGBTQ Film Festival, among others. Since its founding in 2000, Charlotte Pride has expanded its year-round programming and partnerships to better connect community members with its mission, vision, and values. Charlotte Pride is now one of the largest LGBTQ Pride organizations in the American Southeast.
OUR FOCUS AREAS
Arts & Culture
Charlotte Pride creates programs and efforts to support diverse arts and culture programming which uplifts, empowers, enriches, and educates the community while highlighting the work of LGBTQ artists, performers, thinkers, and creators.
Charlotte Pride’s signature arts & culture programs include Reel Out Charlotte: The Queen City’s Annual LGBTQ Film Festival, Flourish: A Celebration of LGBTQ Arts & Culture, Charlotte Pride Drag Programs, Charlotte Pride Interfaith Programs, and the Charlotte Pride History Project, as well as complementing arts and culture components in our stand-alone Charlotte Latinx Pride, Charlotte Trans Pride, and Charlotte Women’s Pride programs. Additional programs and events throughout the year include arts and entertainment showcases, arts and culture activations at the annual festival and parade, and more.
Economic Growth & Upward Mobility
Charlotte Pride recognizes the importance of the LGBTQ community to our local and regional economy and supports programs to include LGBTQ people in the economic life of our region and to create upward economic mobility for LGBTQ people.
Charlotte Pride supports the economic well-being of LGBTQ small business owners and entrepreneurs through vendor and other opportunities at each year’s festival and parade. Community members also benefit from yearly job fairs and additional opportunities to network with LGBTQ-owned and -affirming employers at large events. Yearly, the organization also awards several young people college scholarships through its Charlotte Pride Scholarship Program, designed to support the upward economic mobility and continuing education needs of students. Charlotte Pride also proudly partners with the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority and other local organizations to support and promote tourism and the local economy.
Community Solidarity
Charlotte Pride supports programs, projects, and efforts which uplift and empower our entire community while centering the lives, experiences, and voices of the most marginalized.
Charlotte Pride reimagined many of its community support initiatives in the face of the many challenges presented during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, it unveiled its COVID-19 Relief Program, which will be expanded into a permanent program. In 2021, additional community support and solidarity programs are planned. Charlotte Pride annually supports InterPride’s Solidarity Fund and collaborates with several community partners on annual solidarity events like Trans Day of Visibility and Trans Day of Remembrance.
Visibility & Education
Charlotte Pride recognizes the need for increased visibility of LGBTQ people and the issues which impact our community, as well as programs, projects, and efforts to educate and enrich LGBTQ people and the broader community.
Charlotte Pride’s programs are designed to fulfill our mission to enrich, empower, strengthen, and make more visible our communities. We do so through a broad range of year-round programs and activities, as well as targeted community education and engagement campaigns, as well as regular social media awareness and education campaigns. Charlotte Pride is proud to have recently partnered with community coalitions to support 2020 Census outreach, combat housing discrimination, promote LGBTQ-inclusive nondiscrimination protections, and advocate for equitable transit options in the Charlotte metro area, among others.
OUR COMMUNITY PROGRAMS
Charlotte Pride’s permanent community programs are designed to spotlight and uplift traditionally underserved and historically excluded communities, while offering opportunities to explore the unique histories, cultures, talents, and needs of particular communities.
Charlotte Latinx Pride
Charlotte Latinx Pride is a collaborative community program designed to build the engagement and capacity of the local Latinx LGBTQ community and its allies. Activities include social events and educational and outreach initiatives, as well as annual Spanish-language film screenings at Reel Out Charlotte, Latinx Heritage Month, and various partnerships with groups like Cine Casual and the Hispanic Federation.
Charlotte Trans Pride
Charlotte Trans Pride supports, uplifts, and celebrates Charlotte’s transgender and gender-nonconforming community. Annual events include Trans Day of Remembrance, Trans Day of Visibility, and various other activities in collaboration with our community partners like the Gender Education Network, Time Out Youth, and Transcend Charlotte.
Charlotte Women's Pride
Charlotte Pride’s newest community program, Charlotte Women’s Pride, was born out of a community-voiced desire to see more programs, events, and spaces for LGBTQ women at each year’s Charlotte Pride Festival & Parade, resulting in the first-ever Charlotte Women’s Pride Takeover during the annual festival and parade weekend in 2019. Future programs and events for Charlotte Women’s Pride are currently being planned! Join us!
Reel Out Charlotte
Reel Out Charlotte is the Queen City’s Annual LGBTQ Film Festival. This program of Charlotte Pride uses the power of art and film to entertain, enlighten and build valuable bridges of understanding, support, and acceptance within and between the LGBTQ and ally communities in the Charlotte region. The film festival will celebrated its 10th annual event in 2018. In anticipation of the anniversary, a community vote helped pick the new name of the festival, rebranding from the GayCharlotte Film Festival to Reel Out Charlotte during the 2017 event. Charlotte Pride and its Reel Out Charlotte host a variety of other film screenings throughout each year, in addition to the film festival event.
Charlotte Pride Interfaith Programs
Charlotte Pride’s Interfaith Programs present events and activities throughout the year, bringing together LGBTQ-affirming faith organizations and communities with LGBTQ people of faith. Annual events include the Charlotte Pride Interfaith Service held before each year’s festival and parade. Other activities include panel discussions and special events.
Youth & Family
Charlotte Pride strives to provide a family-friendly atmosphere and activities throughout the year, from our annual Interfaith Service and Family Zone at the festival and parade to family-friendly activities at events produced at Reel Out Charlotte and other events. Charlotte Pride also provides funding and support each year to present the annual Charlotte Pride Youth Dance, in collaboration with Time Out Youth. The event helps to kicks off Charlotte Pride Week and provides a safe, alcohol- and drug-free social environment for youth under the age of 21. Additional expansions in youth and family activities are expected as Charlotte Pride focuses on its continued and growing partnerships with the Gender Education Network, PFLAG Charlotte, and Time Out Youth.
Our Community Commitment
Charlotte Pride’s commitment to the community extends through the life of all of our programs. Through our programs and committees, Charlotte Pride commits to treating all people with respect and dignity, creating continuous learning and involvement opportunities , creating awareness on intersectional issues which impact the lives of our diverse community and offering opportunities for the year-round engagement, recognition and empowerment of our volunteers.