Threats prompt warning for young people in LGBTQ community to steer clear of float in Sparta parade

Sparta — Tired of seeing LGBTQ kids bullied and shamed in Alleghany County, some parents and friends of these young people have entered a float in the town of Sparta's annual Fourth of July parade on Saturday as a way to show solidarity.

"It was, 'Let's show these kids how they are loved and supported and accepted for who they are,'" said Rebecca Allen, who has a transgender son.

Working off the parade's theme, "America the Beautiful," the float will feature a barn, with depictions of the nearby mountains, Christmas tree farms, and the New River, set atop a 20-foot long truck bed. Conspicuously missing from the float will be the young people themselves.

Alarmed by the number of disparaging and threatening posts on social media, float organizers have asked those under 18 years old not to be on or walk alongside the float as it works its way down the main street of this picturesque mountain town 70 miles northwest of Winston-Salem.

Read more: https://www.journalnow.com/news/local/threats-prompt-warning-for-young-people-in-lgbtq-community-to/article_42e748ea-17c1-5b4a-80f0-4f04f0d7cc18.html
(Winston-Salem Journal)


Rebecca Allen, wearing a shirt that reads "Be careful who you hate. It could be someone you love," on Wednesday, July 3, 2019, in Sparta, N.C. (Winston-Salem Journal/Allison Lee Isley)