CLEVER is sponsoring the first ever Pride Parade in Mooresville NC on October 14th. We want this parade to be enormous! We welcome groups, businesses, non-profits, school groups and bands, dance academies and studios, and more! We'd love to have Prides from all over the country come and show support for our first one, in a conservative area, to make it as big and loud as we can. Please fill out the form below and we will be in contact with the next steps and all information needed to begin preparing!
If you are coming from out of state to support us, thank you, and please notate that below so we can ensure you have time to make all needed accommodations. Participating in the parade is free but we will give the option to make a donation to CLEVER in the follow-up forms. If you are a business that is interested in being a sponsor, please check that below as well! We will have information on tax-deductible contributions and the different levels that a business can sponsor, coming very soon.
We do have the right to turn any request for participation down. CLEVER has always prided itself in making safe spaces for our youth lgbtqia+ community, everywhere we go. The parade is no exception, only we want to make it a safe space for all. We will not allow participation of groups or businesses who are or have shown homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic, sexist, or racist tendencies.
This is NOT a town sponsored event, which is why our title is so perfect. Not only are politicians and hate groups all over the country attacking the LGBTQIA+ community, but Mooresville is one of the few towns in our area who not only refuse to make a pride proclamation, but actively push LGBTQIA+ representation as far away as they can. This is why our parade will not end with an event, at least not within the Town of Mooresville limits (more info coming on other weekend activities). We will not give the Town and the commissioners any money at all, hold events that keep large groups within the town, or promote town events until they make a public showing of support, and begin to include our LGBTQIA+ community within the town's community. This includes ensuring school's are equitably run, school boards are not imposing hateful rules against the lgbtqia+ community, and they begin to honor our Black and Brown community with more dignity, honor, and respect.
The Mooresville Police Department, despite the town's resistance, has been absolutely amazing helping us to plan this parade, ensure we have permits, protection, and space to hold our parade and take part in our Constitutional rights. They will be part of the security for the parade, but we will also be engaging other private security details to help as well. For security reasons, we are not allowing cars unless they are pulling a float. If you have a need based on a disability, we would of course like to accommodate in any way we can. Floats will be limited depending on the number of sign ups, and we will be taking them based on first come/first serve, and business sponsorships.
We look forward to bringing the first Pride to Mooresville, and even though Pride is Still a Protest, we hope that it is a positive and beautiful family friendly event!
