Families, couples and allies celebrate Pride Month in Cary

CARY, N.C. (WTVD) — Downtown Cary Park attracted several families, couples, and others for a low-key celebration that closed out Pride Month on Sunday.

Town staff provided streamers and other mementos of the day to eager kids, who also enjoyed a bubble machine set up on a shady end of the Great Lawn.

“I just think it’s really cool,” said Page Peterson, a visitor from Florida. “First of all, as a visitor to have a really awesome place that’s accommodating for all ages and all people to have a good time and celebrate, everybody just getting along together So we have a lot of fun, and all the little ones here to celebrate Pride in the park, right?”

It happened on the last day of June when larger Pride celebrations were underway in cities like New York.

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“I think this is cooler because New York has such a large population,” said William, who asked to be identified by his first name. “We don’t know necessarily about sexual orientation, which is a small part of the humanity of these folks. These are families that might not even be touched necessarily by the LGBT community directly there, instilling something in the children, freedom and rights. So I think it’s even more important that it’s not New York, it’s not Chicago, it’s not L.A.”

It’s Cary, on a day when it felt especially hot and most people gravitated to the shady spots inside the park.

William told ABC11 he’s thinking about what the celebration means to him and others in the LGBTQ+ community, days before the nation’s annual celebration of independence from the British.

“Liberties, and rights that I question every day. I’m 60 years old,” he said. “Everything seems like it’s been trying to be taken away. And for us to stand up here in Cary, in a more conservative area of North Carolina is insane. All the young folks here and the families and people coming out and celebrating, whether you’re part of the community or not, we’re the community of humanity. So we’re supporting each other. That’s what I think.”