{"id":3413,"date":"2026-06-28T05:05:04","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T05:05:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=3413"},"modified":"2026-06-28T05:05:04","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T05:05:04","slug":"organizers-pay-homage-to-community-that-saved-my-life-at-raleigh-pride-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=3413","title":{"rendered":"Organizers pay homage to community that \u2018saved my life\u2019 at Raleigh Pride event"},"content":{"rendered":"

AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n

Read our AI Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

Throughout the afternoon of Out! Raleigh Pride, a blond-haired street preacher stood atop the steps to the old Wake County Courthouse.<\/p>\n

Read more Which ‘Maxton Hall’ Stars Are \u2013 And Aren’t \u2013 Returning for Season 3?<\/a><\/p>\n

He flipped through Bible pages with his left hand and warned through the mic in his right hand about a \u201cgay communist agenda,\u201d spreading homophobic stereotypes about gay couples and the indoctrination of children.<\/p>\n

So throughout the day, a half-dozen volunteers in orange LGBT Center of Raleigh shirts stood in front of the preacher, aiming to distract onlookers from his speech by flicking their wrists to beat their rainbow-patterned handheld fans like they had their boots on the ground<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

The volunteers got an assist from adult LGBTQ+ cheer team Cheer Raleigh<\/u><\/a>, who chanted \u201cL, G, B-T-Q. We\u2019ve got spirit; how about you?\u201d and showcased prep stunts to passersby. On the Fayetteville Street stage, LGBT Center Executive Director Kori Hennessey shouted out Cheer Raleigh for helping drown out counterprotesters.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only does the crowd love it,\u201d Cheer Raleigh President Kesh Pieters said, \u201cbut hopefully the [counter]protesters are paused for a moment to say, \u2018Oh! OK, she\u2019s in the air now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joining the thousands of people at Raleigh\u2019s Pride event Saturday fostered new connections for Cheer Raleigh and other organizations, bringing visibility to the safe spaces they provide. But for several organizers, showing up was also about giving back to communities that gave so much to them \u2014 and in Pieters\u2019 case, \u201csaved my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pieters came close to tears as she credited joining a queer cheer team with helping her through a difficult period in her life. Living in Baltimore away from family and friends, the New York native said she was in a deep depression. Then she joined Cheer D.C., which she said healed her mind and body.<\/p>\n

Cheer D.C. got Pieters out of the house and gave her responsibilities, she said \u2014 be it passing out flyers or giving her all to a performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust having to put my mindset as like \u2018OK, I gotta get up,\u201d Pieters said. \u201cI got to get out, and I got to show up, because people are counting on me. That is what healed me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pieters came in with cheer experience, but the atmosphere was welcoming to all skill levels. In that atmosphere, she found people who were also struggling to find friends and were away from their family and built friendships that will last \u201cprobably to my grave,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

So when she moved to Raleigh a decade ago, she knew she had to start a chapter to bring the same community she felt in Baltimore to the South.<\/p>\n

After Raleigh city council member Jonathan Lambert-Melton read Mayor Janet Cowell\u2019s Pride Month proclamation, Hennessey thanked the city for supporting Pride in spite of challenges the LGBTQ+ community faces. Hennessey mentioned counterprotesters as one example. The News & Observer previously reported about a LGBTQ+ organizer who was allegedly assaulted<\/u><\/a> at a Cary pride event.<\/p>\n

Read more ‘Off Campus’ Creator Teases Major Season 2 Change After Surprise Cast Exit<\/a><\/p>\n

LGBT Center Board of Trustees Chair Katherine Croft said the center formed a command center at the YMCA on Fayetteville Street and had radio communications for all staff and security to ensure a quick response. But there was no question of having a Pride event \u2014 especially in this moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so many people who benefit from being a part of the broader LGBTQ+ community, and being able to just get together, celebrate with each other, support each other in times that can be very scary for an individual person within this community,\u201d Croft said.<\/p>\n

Out! Raleigh Pride is also a key fundraiser for the LGBT Center<\/u><\/a>, which just moved into a new community center that will provide a food pantry, clothing closet and an LGBTQ+ library.<\/p>\n

For those who wished to directly support the center\u2019s efforts, volunteers took turns sitting in a dunk tank where attendees could pay $5 to throw a ball at the target.<\/p>\n

Sarah Preston was one of those volunteers, though she\u2019s the DEI director for the Raleigh chapter of Stonewall Sports, an adult sports league for LGBTQ+ individuals and allies.<\/p>\n

Preston, a self-described \u201clate bloomer,\u201d said she did not come out as gay to herself until adulthood. When she did, she struggled to find a like-minded community in South Carolina, part of why she moved to Raleigh.<\/p>\n

Before she moved to Raleigh, Preston said she signed up for Stonewall Sports\u2019 kickball league, even though she didn\u2019t play organized sports growing up. Yet upon joining her first team, she almost immediately became captain \u201cbecause I love the idea of bringing people together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile my teams can be competitive \u2013 or sometimes we\u2019re just like \u2018we\u2019re here because we\u2019re gay, not because we\u2019re good,\u2019 we\u2019re just here to have a good time and build that community,\u201d Preston said.<\/p>\n

Preston said she encouraged a person she met in the Queer Adult Book Club<\/u><\/a> at the LGBT Center to sign up for Stonewall Sports. That person\u2019s team won a championship in its first season, and they told Preston Friday night \u201cit was the best thing they\u2019ve ever done in their life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI found my community,\u201d Preston said, tearing up as she retold the story. \u201cI\u2019m trying to help other people find theirs. So getting to do that is so rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Teenager killed, juvenile injured in Northwest Raleigh car crash, police say<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published June 27, 2026 at 6:24 PM.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Out! 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