Request made to make September Pride Month in Richmond County

With the Labor Day delaying the upcoming Richmond County Commission meeting a week, one local resident hopes it gives them a bit of extra time to consider supporting area members of the LGBTQ+ community.

During the most recent Richmond County Commission meeting, resident Jerry Tilly requested Commissioners declare September as Pride Month in Richmond County.

“While it’s not a widely know fact, Pride Month is celebrated in different months in different areas based on the weather, the academic school year, holidays, businesses, traffic and various other reasons,” said Tilly, referencing a push in the Raleigh Durham area to move Pride Month from June to September. “… June in the south is literally hell, so they decided to move Pride Month to September to make it easier for everyone to attend. Other areas in the state followed suit. While June is national Pride Month, September has become an unofficial/official Pride Month for the state of North Carolina.”

Tilly made the request as an Olive Branch of sorts with the Richmond County Commission. In June, multiple speakers admonished the commission for its inaction of reprimanding Commissioner Andy Grooms for his comments calling the Richmond Senior High School Prom King Elijah Crumpton “SICK” for wearing a dress to prom. Supporters of Crumpton, who is gay and identifies as male, later held a march in downtown, attracting dozens to the cause and thousands of viewers online.

Grooms remains tight lipped regarding the topic, with county officials confirming death threats he received in the aftermath of his comments.

“While we were participating in a March last month regarding the comments that were made, we received an outpouring of support from the community. One young lady, whose name I will not mention, saw us on Facebook. She came down here, drove to the courthouse to tell us how scared she was to live in this county and she was humble in having us speak for her because she was too scared to speak for herself,” Tilly said. ” Now, I’m asking you to join me in speaking for the voices in Richmond and make a proclamation at your September meeting that Richmond County will join dozens of counties across the state and recognize September as NC Pride Month. Show the people like this young woman, who saw a glimmer of hope in this county, that you don’t just care about the citizens of this county that you agree with, and that Richmond County is a place where everyone is welcome.”