GREENSBORO, N.C. — After a two year hiatus, Greensboro Pride is coming back and celebrating 15 years this week.
The Greensboro Pride Festival is the annual event for Alternative Resources of the Triad, a non-profit organization that works to improve the emotional and social well being of LGBTQ individuals.
The celebration is week-long with events each day, ending with the Pride Festival in downtown Greensboro Sunday taking up about four blocks on Elm Street between Washington and Lewis Streets.
"It’s very exciting to be back in downtown Greensboro and see all the excitement from the downtown businesses (and) residents, and just the community as a whole," said Brian Coleman with Greensboro Pride.
American Idol finalist Ada Vox will be performing Sunday. Coleman said Vox will be the first nationally recognized performer to be at the event.
"We were proud to be asked by the city to take up more space so that’s what we have done," Coleman said. "So with that more space being taken up there is close to 200 different vendors."
Pride events commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Inn riots, which are largely considered to be the start of the LGBTQ rights movement.
"There was a struggle and the struggle will continue until every citizen has those inalienable rights, not only given to them but held up by those people who have the power to do so," said Coleman.
The Greensboro event has changed over the years, originally starting in what is now LeBauer Park. Mac Stroupe, who attended the first Pride event with PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) said only a couple hundred people came to the original event.
"I really enjoyed the fellowship," said Stroupe, "meeting all the exhibitors and we kind of bonded and I do remember we had a stage and we had the gay men’s choir that provided entertainment."
Now, thousands of people are expected in downtown Greensboro Sunday.
"It is absolutely amazing to see the changes in our community and see what’s happened," Stroupe said.
Coleman said it's because of the community and city support that the event continues to grow.
"We are still a very young organization as you look across different parts of the country," said Coleman. "This (Pride festival) hasn't been going on as long so being very conscious of our local community being seen and heard, and what their needs are, and that’s really what Pride is: us to be able to create that safe space for people to come be open in public without the bias or prejudice."
Cone Health is also partnering with the Greensboro Pride Festival to offer Monkeypox vaccines from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The vaccine is free but registration is encouraged. You must meet certain eligibility requirements.
"The majority of the LGBTQ community in Greensboro or throughout the country don’t necessarily have the best healthcare or any healthcare at all," Coleman said. "We have people who live on the streets just like any other community that just don’t have access or know how to get these things. So it’s a great opportunity and we appreciate the folks over at Cone so so very much for bringing this to our attention."