About 3,000 people, including a number of public officials, converged on East Campus for the 15th annual North Carolina Pride march for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights last Saturday.
Beginning on Campus Drive, the parade, which included a marching band, several church groups and family organizations continued down West Main Street, Broad Street, Ninth Street and Markham Avenue before returning to campus.
Norman Mustafa said he was encouraged by the turnout in the Bull City, which last held the parade six years ago.
"It's probably the biggest parade we've had in Durham," said Mustafa, co-chair of NC Pride 2000, the organization that sponsors the event.
Before the parade, a steady flow of public officials and local activists, both gay and straight, came to the steps on the back of the East Duke Building to address the crowd.
State representative Verla Insko, (D-Chatham, Orange) came to the podium with her three-year-old grandson Thomas in tow, and read a statement from Vice President Al Gore, the likely Democratic presidential nominee.
"We as a nation need to pass the Hate Crimes Prevention Act.... The tragic hatred that led to Matthew Shephard's death must end," Gore said in the statement. "I know that the time has come to widen the circle of dignity to include our brothers, sisters and neighbors in the gay and lesbian community."
After reading the letter, Insko, who attended the Pride march for the first time this year, echoed Gore's sentiments.
"I think it's really important for elected officials to provide leadership for the community and say that discrimination is not OK," she said. "I would like to see a national expansion of our hate crimes laws and if we can't do it on the national level we should do it on the state level."
Also speaking to the crowd was Clarence Birkhead, chief of the Duke University Police Department, who read a statement from President Nan Keohane. Birkhead rode in a car in the parade.
"[I came] to show my support for the community at large as well as this segment of the population," he said. "It was great."
Kerry Poynter, program coordinator for the University's Center for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Life said Birkhead's support was appreciated.
"One thing was true, this event couldn't have happened if it weren't for the support of Duke," he said.
Poynter noted the diversity of people participating in the march.
"When people think of pride parades they think about drag queens and leathermen and they're certainly part of the community and are here," he said. "But the reality is that the gay community is very diverse."
Rev. Jimmy Creech of Raleigh, who recently made national headlines after he was removed from his position as a minister with the United Methodist Church, echoed those sentiments in his address to the crowd.
"One thing I hope you'll never do is lose your diversity," he said. "Keep your diversity. It keeps you beautiful."
He reflected on his own experience uniting same-sex couples.
"Love is a very holy reality," he said. "It is a gift that comes from life itself that should not be bound by prejudice and bigotry."
Partners Kathy Waddle and Fran Harler came with their friend Sheelagh Anderson, all of Chapel Hill. Waddle noticed the lack of counter-protesters at Saturday's event.
"Sometimes when we've done this you notice people standing on the side of the road with negative signs and there were none this year," she said.
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