Mary Beth Clark has lived in Chatham County for over 20 years, and she’s proud to call the town of Pittsboro her home. The town is home to around 4,700 people and is known for its historic downtown and small town vibes, two things Clark cherishes.
When Clark’s child came out as transgender and lesbian to her family, Clark’s first thought was concern for how the world would react to her daughter. But one thing she knew: the Pittsboro community was different from most small towns in North Carolina.
“Our state in general is not that safe or affirming, but in Pittsboro, we’re in a little bit of a pocket — a more accepting bubble,” Clark explained.
Pittsboro and the greater Chatham County area are more progressive than your stereotypical rural county. The entire county has voted Democratic in every election since 2000 while most of the counties it borders are deeply Republican and conservative. Pittsboro, however, is especially progressive, and that’s part of the reason Russell Davis, an openly queer man from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, moved to Fearrington Village, a neighborhood just outside of Pittsboro’s city limits.
“There’s only been one incident where a coworker told me I better keep my sexuality under my hat, so I can honestly say that I’ve had little issues,” Davis said.
Pittsboro is also the site of Chatham Park — a multi-use, 7,100 acre development currently under construction. Once completed, Chatham Park will be home to up to 22,000 residential units, 667 acres of park land, up to 22,000,000 sq. ft. of non-residential development and more. Chatham Park, along with economic developments such as VinFast and Wolfspeed, are expected to bring over 60,000 people to Chatham County in the next 30 years.
Davis said as Pittsboro grows, it’s important to ensure the town is seen as welcoming in order to draw in diverse families, including those in the LGBTQ+ community.
“When we’re in this growing part, we [LGBTQ+ people] are key people that need to be there to be part of the foundation so we don’t end up down this wrong road with a weird path to a town where you don’t want to take your trans daughter or your queer son,” he said. “I’m just happy there’s so many queer people here … it’s really a melting pot.”
Clark, who has lived in Pittsboro for over 12 years, said the community has always been welcoming and willing to understand, especially when her daughter came out as trans.
“When I approached people that I knew in the community who weren’t yet aware of this situation in our family, I always approached it from a positive point of view,” Clark offered. “As a very open ally here in town, I always assume there will be positive reception to what I’m asking or presenting.”
The first ever LGBTQ+ Pride festival in Pittsboro
In late 2022, a group of Pittsboro residents came together to do something never done before: a LGBTQ+ Pride festival in Chatham County.
Clark was among those people who volunteered to make this dream a reality, because her daughter had just come out and wanted to be a part of creating the event for Chatham County’s LGBTQ+ community.
“We got together and said, ‘Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if we had a pride event here in Pittsboro or Chatham County?’” Clark said. “And we all said, ‘Yeah, that would be really cool.’”
And so the group of residents got to work to create what is now known as PBO Pride.
The venue for the first ever PBO Pride was The Plant — a 17 acre eco-industrial park located on the east side of Pittsboro and home to one of the town’s two beverage districts. So last June, the inaugural festival kicked off with a parade through The Plant. The event featured various queer vendors, performers, a Pride parade, Free Mom Hugs and a dance party. Piedmont Health Services also had a booth with various handouts, ranging from free candy to pamphlets for how to get started on HIV prevention medication. Organizations such as Equality NC and the LGBTQ+ Resource Center from the Sanford Yoga and Community Center also provided resources to Pride attendees.
Clark said they originally planned for around 300 people to come to the festival. The actual number of attendees who came to The Plant that Sunday: over 1,000.
“We exceeded our trash capacity, our restroom capacity, our food capacity,” Clark recounted.
What stuck out to Clark the most, however, was the amount of queer youth present at the event.
“Somebody described it as like our own little queer, tiny town,” she said. “I was very encouraged by the number of youth and teens and children that were there last year that were obviously in the gay community, and they seemed very, very comfortable.”
Qnotes writer Taylor Heeden attended the first PBO Pride festival, and met several residents who expressed their excitement about a Pride event in Chatham County.
“I found myself dancing with Jean-Paul, a Chatham County resident who used a red ribbon to accentuate his twirls and dance moves … he said seeing his small town come together to create a loving and safe space for queer people of all ages and backgrounds gave him hope for the future,” Heeden wrote in a column. “He couldn’t have said it better: The beautiful part about Pride is it’s a space where you can just be yourself — a judgment-free zone of sorts. People from all walks of life, whether they’re queer-identifying or otherwise, come together to celebrate being their authentic selves.”
Davis wasn’t involved in planning last year’s event, but after he went, he knew he wanted to be a part of planning it the next year.
“It really was just a gay family event where everyone could just be themselves,” Davis said. “We walked onto these grounds, and just had our day.”
PBO Pride is coming back this year for its second year, and this year’s festivities will take place over the span of two days. The festival is now an event held through the NC Arts Incubator, a 501(c)3 based out of Siler City, and because of that, PBO Pride organizers have more resources to put on a bigger and better event.
“We have six bands lined up to play over the course of those two days, we have a drag story hour on Sunday [and] we’re going to have a whole Kid Zone set up in the heart of the festival,” Davis explained. “We’re looking at it and it’s going to be twice the size of the festival that we had last year.”
PBO Pride is special for many reasons, but Davis said the most important reason to continue having events like PBO Pride is to let Chatham County’s LGBTQ+ residents know they’re not alone.
“We’re not doing this to broadcast what we do in our bedrooms: it’s to say we exist and that we’re allowed to exist,” he explained. “In the town of Pittsboro, you are allowed to be here. We want you to be here. We love you. That’s what pride is.” ::