Keeping You Safe

Charlotte Pride is committed to keeping you safe.

Here’s how we’ll do it together…

Keeping Yourself and Your Friends Safe and Well:

• Stay Hydrated: The single-most common calls we have for medical assistance each year are people who are experiencing dehydration or heat exhaustion. When you visit our event, be sure to stay hydrated. Drink lots of water, wear sunscreen, and take breaks in the shade.
• Use the Buddy System: When you visit our event, be sure to bring your friends or family. The event is best experienced in a group, and when you have friends or family with you they can keep watch over you and you them!
• “See Something, Say Something”: If you see something suspicious or out of place, immediately say something to the nearest law enforcement officer or event staffer.
• Know Your Surroundings: As with any large-scale event, be aware of your surroundings. Keep track of your friends and family. Identify exit areas. Be mindful.

DO NOT ENGAGE WITH PROTESTORS

Charlotte Pride’s Public Safety Preparations:

Charlotte Pride’s board, staff, and event volunteers have your safety and wellness as our top priority.

• Our Team is Trained: Charlotte Pride event staff undergo intensive first-aid and emergency preparedness training.
• We Have a Plan: The Charlotte Pride Board of Directors, staff, and event staff have a plan for crisis and emergency preparedness.
• Charlotte Pride Coordinates with Public Safety Agencies: Charlotte Pride has met with and coordinated our crisis and emergency plans with all local public safety agencies.
• Local Public Safety Agencies are Prepared: Charlotte Pride is confident in our trust of local public safety agencies and their plans to keep our event safe and celebratory.

COVID Precautions:

• We are following CDC and local health guidelines: While COVID is no longer considered a national emergency, we encourage attendees to take precautions that suit their comfort level.
• We will change our plans if necessary: If CDC or local health guidelines change, we immediately change our precautions to come into line with those guidelines.

Monkeypox Precautions:

• Charlotte pride is in regular communication with Mecklenburg County Public Health, which will be present at the festival & parade to provide prevention and awareness materials regarding monkeypox, as well as information on how to obtain vaccines.
• We are following CDC and local health guidelines: Attending the Charlotte Pride Festival & Parade will not put you at an increase risk of contracting Monkeypox.
• Monkeypox is NOT a “gay disease”: Monkeypox is spread by close skin-to-skin contact. Though it is true that most documented transmissions have occurred in the LGBTQ community, this viral infection can be spread to any person. Like all viruses, monkeypox knows no race, color, sexual orientation, gender, or gender identity.
• Monkeypox is spread by close, personal, and often skin-to-skin contact: Including direct contact with monkeypox rash, scabs, or bodily fluids, as well as touching objects, including fabrics (clothing, bedding, towels, etc.) that have been used by someone with monkeypox.
• Contact with monkeypox can occur during:
  • Oral, anal, and vaginal sex or touching the genitals of a person with monkeypox
  • Hugging, massaging, and kissing
  • Prolonged face-to-face contact
  • Touching fabrics and objects during sex that were used by a person with monkeypox and have not been disinfected, such as bedding, towels, fetish gear, and sex toys
• Watch for signs and symptoms of monkeypox:
  • You may have any combination of flu-like symptoms and skin rash:
    • Fever and/or chills
    • Headache, muscle ache, or backache
    • Swollen lymph nodes (tender spots near the neck, jaw, armpits, or groin)
    • Exhaustion
    • A rash of bumps in or on any part of your body, including genitals.
      • The rash can be as small as one or two bumps or cover the entire body.
      • The bumps may look like warts, pimples, blisters, sores, or scabs.
      • The bumps may be painful or itchy and will change size and shape before scabbing over and healing.

DO NOT ATTEND THIS EVENT IF YOU ARE NOT WELL OR HAVE SYMPTOMS

Public Health Contacts:

Mecklenburg County HIV/STD Testing

Mecklenburg County COVID Information

Mecklenburg County Monkeypox Information