On August 26 I had the privilege to participate in the PRIDE Charlotte festival at Gateway Village.
As a entertainer at a local nightclub for many years, I have always worked to provide an escape and an opportunity for our customers to leave life’s many problems behind and “let their hair down” — if only for an hour a week. I anxiously awaited the opportunity to do the same at Pride during the stage show.
I was able to do that — and much more. I saw before me not only many brothers and sisters that I had never met but children and babies of those in attendance. Once during my monologue, a woman handed her child to me. As I looked into the eyes of that child, I wondered what kind of impact our community would have on this child’s life? Have we done enough to make it so that all children, whether gay, straight or any lifestyle in between, will live without the prejudice and the hate that so many of us have seen first hand?
I think we’ve done a lot — but there’s always more work to be done.
Pride is an opportunity not only to celebrate the diversity of our city, but to come together without concern of economic level, social status, or one’s personal history. To come together as one voice, one vision.
I thank the organizers of PRIDE Charlotte for allowing me to entertain you and your family at Pride. I came to offer a momentary escape for the audience, but received the experience of a lifetime myself. I will never forget that day, thanks to all of you.
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