Some North Carolina LGBTQ Groups Boycott Pride Event On Yom Kippur

Image by Forward Montage

By Aiden Pink September 13, 2017

A coalition of North Carolina LGBTQ groups are boycotting Raleigh-Durham’s annual gay pride festival because it falls on Yom Kippur.

The NC Pride parade was originally scheduled for September 30, the day of Yom Kippur. After a backlash from Jewish community members, the organizers of NC Pride sought to fix things by changing the parade into a 12-hour-long festival from 4:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. But the beginning of the festival would still conflict with Yom Kippur, which both Jewish and LGBTQ groups found unacceptable.

A statement released Wednesday by those groups, including the LGBTQ Center of Durham and the Jewish Federation of Durham-Chapel Hill, argued, “This year’s failure to reschedule Pride from Saturday, September 30th, in observance of Yom Kippur is simply another example of the NC Pride Committee ignoring the needs of our diverse LGBTQ community.”

“We are disappointed with this year’s planning of NC Pride on Yom Kippur,” Federation CEO Jill Madsen added. “What deepens these feelings is the lack of communication, outreach, or partnership from NC Pride, to work to find a solution and plan for years to come, despite our efforts to continue to connect with them.”

A related petition argued, “By abstaining from this year’s NC Pride on September 30th, we will instead invest in safe spaces, continued conversations, and ongoing action to transform ourselves, our organizations, our communities and our state through this work.”

Contact Aiden Pink at [email protected] or on Twitter, @aidenpink.

Aiden Pink is the Deputy News Editor for the Forward. Contact him at [email protected] or on Twitter, @aidenpink.

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