Three LGBTQIA+ support organizations in Eastern North Carolina have merged to form a new and unified regional pride organization: 1ENC Pride.
The Onslow County LBGTQ+ Community Center in Jacksonville, ENC Pride (originally centered in Lenoir), and New Bern Pride in Craven County have joined forces and combined resources to create a unified regional organization called 1ENC Pride. The new organization’s motto is: “We believe in a world where all people are free to express their gender identity and sexual orientation with pride”. 1ENC Pride seeks to provide support and resources for LGBTQIA+ individuals and their allies, to educate the public on LGBTQIA+ issues, and to provide safe events and opportunities for the community to gather and heal. The group is chartered as a tax-exempt 501(c)3 organization.
The Onslow LBGTQIA+ Community Center was founded in 2020 with the mission of “enhancing and sustaining the well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals, and our families and allies, by providing education, social, and health-related activities.“ The Center has received funding from The Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation and continues to provide its support programs and services as the transition to 1ENC Pride proceeds.
The goal of the original ENC Pride group in Kinston was to “unify the LGBTQIA+ community and its allies in Eastern North Carolina.” It was founded in 2020 and has provided a number of advocacy and awareness events, mainly in Kinston and the surrounding area.
New Bern Pride emerged from a planning committee for the first-ever Pride Prom in New Bern in 2022. The idea for Pride Prom sparked when David Buckshot had a prom-themed birthday party and saw his friends experience prom for the first time, or in some cases, all over again – but this time as themselves. He wanted to share this experience with the rest of the New Bern community, so he gathered his friends to help create his vision on a large scale. The 2023 Pride Prom will be June 24th at the Riverfront Convention Center in New Bern. A Pride Parade and Music Festival will be held June 10 in Jacksonville at Riverwalk, and an event in Kinston is tentatively planned for November 2023.
1ENC Pride will function as a regional resource for Craven, Onslow, Lenoir, Carteret, Jones, and Pamlico Counties. A new Board of Directors including representatives from all the merging groups is currently being formed. The Acting Executive Director of 1ENCPride is Cher Durham, a leader of the New Bern pride group and a Nurse Practitioner/Nurse Midwife paving the way for a trauma-informed, patient-centered, culturally appropriate, all-inclusive LGBTQIA+ community health space that will provide gender-affirming healthcare and be an invaluable medical resource for Eastern North Carolinians. “We chose the name deliberately,” Durham said. “The ‘1’ indicates our quest for unity and equality of all people, and also our geographical unity. The “ENC” emphasizes that we want to be a regional resource, not just a New Bern or Jacksonville operation. We encourage LGBTQIA+ individuals, groups, and allies throughout Eastern N.C. to join or work with us.”
1ENC Pride can be contacted via newbernprideprom.com/reach-out.
By Jonathan Phillips