STAUNTON, Va. (WHSV) - COVID-19 has canceled events, including LGBTQ pride festivals and events happening across the country, but here in the valley, people in Staunton are finding other ways to celebrate.
Instead of hosting Staunton Pride as planned, event organizers and the LGBTQ Resource Center welcomed people for virtual or socially distanced events throughout June and July, like Saturday’s “Come Out, in Downtown Staunton.”
Chris Wood, the founder of the LGBTQ Resource Center, said canceling pride would not stop people in the valley from celebrating.
“It’s about community,” Wood said. “It’s about seeing the support and love for each other and being out and proud and being ourselves.”
Saturday’s event was not an official replacement of Staunton Pride, but a way to show support to the growing LGBTQ community in the Shenandoah Valley.
“People are beginning to really understand even here in a more rural community,” Wood said. “It’s really great to see how accepting and loving people are being, and how open they are to welcoming LGBTQ individuals.”
Wood said some downtown restaurants are donating percentages of Saturday’s sales to support the efforts of the resource center.
“[The LGBTQ Resource Center ensures] that individuals have access to resources like housing, food, shelter, basic health care needs that are LGBTQ inclusive,” Wood said. “We’ve been able to provide so much in such a short amount of time, and I’m proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish so far.”
He said Staunton has been of the most LGBTQ welcoming communities he’s lived in, but the area still lacked support and resources for LGBTQ individuals which is why he founded the resource center two years ago.
The LGBTQ Resource Center Virtual Pride Month events include discussions about sexual health, LGBTQ history, shows, and resources for LGBTQ youth and their parents.
Contributors also share their LGBTQ stories and experiences in a podcast called “Queer Voices in the Valley.”
For more information on the LGBTQ Resource Center or to make a donation, click here.
Copyright 2020 WHSV. All rights reserved.
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June 28, 2020 at 06:52AM
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LGBTQ Resource Center organizes additional events after cancellation of Staunton Pride - WHSV
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