Celebrate Pride with us!

Get ready for another spirited week-long celebration of our diverse team and community members!

For the third year, our Zoo will be hosting Pride Week! We strive to be a safe, welcoming place for everyone – employees, volunteers and guests of all races, religions, sexual orientations, gender identities, exceptionalities, ages and nationalities. All our guests are invited to participate in the activities we have planned from June 4-10:

• Sunday, June 4: Pin Your Pride; purchase a Pride-themed pin at the Zoo for $2 – proceeds go toward PFLAG, an organization dedicated to supporting, educating and advocating for LGBTQ+ people and their families.
• Monday, June 5: Zoo Spirit; dress as your favorite animal!
• Tuesday, June 6: Crazy Hair and Sock; dress up your hair or feet!
• Wednesday, June 7: Team Spirit; go as your sports team or dress up as a group!
• Thursday, June 8: Pride Shirts; Zoo staff wears matching T-shirts, and the community can dress in rainbow or however they please!
• Friday, June 9: Flashback Friday; grab garb from your favorite decade!
• Saturday, June 10: Rainbow Day; put on your most colorful outfit!

If you’re interested in purchasing your own Zoo Pride T-shirt, check out our online store: https://bit.ly/425RaDN. Proceeds from your purchase will go toward our animal wellbeing and conservation efforts – Thank you!

You’ll also spot fun enrichment and food options for our animals throughout the week as well. Internally, the Zoo’s DEAI committee will also be sending staff and volunteers weekly educational messages to provoke courageous conversations about diversity and inclusion.

In response to society’s growing awareness of social justice issues, we established an employee-driven diversity, equity, accessibility and inclusion (DEAI) committee in 2020 to create positive change at the Zoo and in our community. Through this community, we have held annual Black History Month and Pride Week celebrations for 3 years now.

The DEAI committee’s mission statement is as follows:

Brevard Zoo is dedicated to sharing the joy of nature to help wildlife and people thrive. As a cornerstone of this mission, we embrace diversity, equity, accessibility and inclusion. We believe that these qualities foster valuable talents, perspectives and personality traits that make the Zoo a stronger, more welcoming organization.

Employees, volunteers and guests of all races, religions, sexual orientations, gender identities, exceptionalities, ages and nationalities have the right to feel safe, respected and valued. We reject racism, religious discrimination, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, ageism and xenophobia. Simply stated, we will not tolerate acts of hate.

We acknowledge the complex nature of this journey, and we are committed to demonstrating continuous self-reflection, engaging in courageous conversations and devoting the resources required to create transformative change both in our Zoo and beyond.

We hope you can join us, and we look forward to hosting more DEAI celebrations in the future! Keep an eye on our communications channels for more fun!