Hendersonville PRIDE Fest on June 6 is more important than ever

Once again, HCDP Dems & Friends are thrilled to have a booth at Hendersonville PRIDE Fest:

• WHEN: Saturday, JUNE 6, from noon to 5 pm

• WHERE: Jackson Park

• WHY: To celebrate and show up for our LGBTQ+ community

We took a few minutes to ask Dalton Buchanan, long-time PRIDE volunteer and HCDP's former third vice chair, to share his experiences with Henderson County's downhome celebration of our LGBTQ+ community:

HCDP: What do you remember about your first Hendersonville PRIDE Fest? When was it?

Dalton: My first Hendersonville PRIDE was 2019. It was still pretty new but already had its own identity. What I remember most is how community-focused and organic it felt. It wasn't commercial. It wasn't trying to be anything it wasn't. It was laid back and local, and honestly that's what made it hit different. I've been to every one since.

HCDP: How has it changed over the years?

Dalton: It's grown a lot. The first year I went, it was a handful of booths. Now it's rows. It keeps getting bigger and more visible. It's changed but I think it's been getting better. The heart of it is still there.

HCDP: In 2026, do you feel it's especially important to have PRIDE?

Dalton: Yeah. More than ever. We are actively going backwards on rights in this country and that's not an exaggeration. PRIDE right now needs to go back to its roots. Protest. Visibility. Resistance. This is also the moment where you find out real fast who your actual allies are versus who was just comfortable when things were easier. I'll be straight with you — I know people in the LGBTQ+ community drawing up legal protections for themselves right now. I know people looking at citizenship in other countries. That's the reality. PRIDE being front and center is not optional right now. It's necessary.

It's equally important for everyone who believes in human rights to unite and come out to vote this fall. I'm volunteering for Lynne Russo, who is running for the NC House, because North Carolina's general assembly has also been backsliding in terms of human rights, not just LGBTQ+ rights but across the board.

HCDP: Can you share a brief personal experience of the challenges of growing up gay in Appalachian North Carolina?

Dalton: I grew up being told gay people were not good and were going to hell. There were times in my life where I didn't want to be alive anymore. That's dark but it's true and I'm not going to soften it. I got to the other side of it. But I know a lot of gay men who didn't. That happens more than people realize and it often gets quietly covered up by the people closest to them.

I didn't come out to my family until grad school. I waited until I could take care of myself. My brother outed me before I was ready and my mother said some very cruel things that day. They mostly just ignored it after that. When I started dating my husband, I was told I wasn't welcome at family events so I stepped back from all of it. They didn't come to our wedding and that was the end of contact for a while. About three years ago they reached out and invited both of us to Thanksgiving. Things have been better since then. But trust is hard to rebuild once it's broken. I'm never fully sure where things stand and I think a lot of people in this community know exactly what I mean by that. I also know people who never got that call and people whose situation is still all over the place. There's no clean ending to a lot of these stories.

I've been asked if I'd go back to any part of my childhood. No. I'm a lot happier now than I ever was then.

HCDP: How does PRIDE handle protesters? What measures are there to keep people safe?

Dalton: I've never been to a PRIDE event without protesters somewhere nearby. My approach is to ignore them. Bullies back down when you stand up to them and I've watched that happen. More than once they've left because they felt outnumbered. That said I'm not going to just stand there if something goes sideways. I'll step in.

Big shout out to the veterans and allies who have physically shielded attendees from some genuinely bad actors over the years. I remember one year a man was approaching teenage attendees and giving out his number. Deeply disturbing. The allies who caught that and handled it deserve real recognition. The police presence at Pride has also been solid in my experience and that matters.

HCDP: Any other shout-outs?

Laura Bannister is a pillar of this community and a genuine treasure. The work she has put into building PRIDE here over the years is something I really look up to. Shout out to her and the rest of the PRIDE board.

And it means a lot to have affirming churches present. I grew up evangelical and it is not lost on me what it means to see faith communities actually show up. Especially right now when MAGA has done a real number on Christianity. The far right has convinced a lot of people in the church to work against the core of what Jesus actually taught — help the poor, the sick, the elderly, your neighbor, foreigners. That's somehow become un-Christian in their framing while they hyper focus on things barely mentioned in Scripture. Seeing affirming churches at PRIDE is a real counter to that. PRIDE in WNC has always been locally led and community driven. Not waiting on Washington. Lifting everyone up. That's who we were right after Helene and that's who we need to keep being.

HCDP: Do you have an official role this year?

Dalton: I'm volunteering this year with my husband, Matt. We're helping with logistics, set up, and breakdown. That's exactly where I want to be.

HCDP: Anything else?

Show up. Not just to Pride but to each other. That's always been the point.

If you're unfamiliar with Hendersonville PRIDE, read NPR's reporting on the inaugural event, pulled off by our wonderful Laura Bannister.

Find it here!