June is Pride month, and usually, Northern Nevada Pride hosts a Festival in Wingfield Park and a parade through Downtown Reno. With all the restrictions in place, organizers are taking the event virtual this year.
"We're being very careful so that everyone understands that you can't cancel the movement that is Pride," said YeVonne Allen with Northern Nevada Pride. "Pride is within all of us. However, this year our in-person events will have to be canceled. We work very closely with city and state officials, and we tried to figure out a way to have something in person, but it's just not going to be a reality. So we are planning a two-hour virtual event that will happen on July 25, 2020. It's going to be fun, we're still going to have our community come together and watch it all virtually and have a good time."
The event has grown over the past seven years.
"What's wonderful about the Northern Nevada community is we were so excited year one to have a thousand people," Allen said. "And now we've grown to 15,000 and the community has really embraced it. We have so much support from community partners, local businesses, so we feel very accepted and very proud of our community."
The event is a fundraiser for Our Center, the local LGBTQ+ community center. Last year's event raised $50,000 for the cause.
"It's a community space that is completely run by volunteers," Allen said. "It's a place for people to have space, to have meetings, there's library, a youth space, it's a great community center. We're very sad that because of the quarantine we've had to close, and we're looking forward to the day the Governor will allow us to open again."
Even though this year's event won't be the same, the message hasn't changed.
"The ultimate goal is community," Allen said. "We want to be there for you just as you have been there for us, and we want to create a happy, healthy, safe environment for everyone to be whoever they are. It's very important to create a safe environment for those that support our community."
To view the 2020 Northern Nevada Pride message video, click here.
To see the 2019 Pride Parade highlight video, click here.
For more information on the event, you can visit their website or Facebook page.
