PRIDE
NYC Pride March Canceled; Virtual Events on Tap
Pandemic thwarts plans for historic 50th anniversary of fi rst march marking Stonewall
BY MATT TRACY
The New York City LGBTQ
Pride March and
all related in-person festivities
from June 14 to
June 28 have been canceled due to
the coronavirus pandemic, marking
the fi rst time the annual event
will not go on as planned since
the inaugural Christopher Street
Liberation March 50 years ago in
1970.
Mayor Bill de Blasio on April 20
announced the cancelation of all
non-essential permitted gatherings
in the month of June, including
the June 28 Pride march, the
June 14 Puerto Rican Day Parade,
and the June 7 Celebrate Israel.
Heritage of Pride, which organizes
the main Pride march and related
events, immediately rolled out an
announcement confi rming that
organizers worked closely with the
de Blasio administration in the decision
to scrap the in-person plans
for Pride.
“New York City is the birthplace
of the modern LGBTQ rights movement,”
de Blasio said in a written
statement. “We’ve come a long way
since the fi rst Christopher Street
Liberation Day March 50 years
ago, which is a testament to the
bravery and resiliency of LGBTIA+
New Yorkers in the struggle
for equality. While this pandemic
prevents us from coming together
to march, it will in no way stop us
from celebrating the indelible contributions
that the LGBTIA+ community
has made to New York City
or from recommitting ourselves to
the fi ght for equal rights.”
Instead, HOP hinted at alternative
initiatives and plans that will
➤ TRUMP & HIS BIGOTS, from p.2
gentleman,” and Jackson thanked
Trump and Pence for ensuring
that the government’s coronavirus
relief package included funding for
churches.
Jackson has repeatedly found
himself embroiled in controversy
over his comments on LGBTQ
Members of the Gay Liberation Front, who reunited for Stonewall 50 last year, will not get an opportunity
to march in person in New York City this year to mark fi ve decades since they helped spearhead the
fi rst-ever Christopher Street Liberation March in 1970.
celebrate Pride in a different way.
HOP plans to beef up its Pride Gives
Back grant program intended to
support programming at queer organizations
in marginalized communities,
while ABC7 is planning
a “special NYC Pride programming
event” in conjunction with HOP
in June. In past year, the television
station has broadcast several
hours of the parae.
“As the days have passed, it has
become more and more clear that
even with a decline in the spread
of COVID-19, large-scale events
such as ours are unlikely to happen
in the near future,” NYC Pride
co-chair Maryanne Roberto Fine
noted in a statement. “We understand
that we need to reimagine
NYC Pride events — and have already
rights — particularly on the issue
of marriage equality. In 2011,
the far-right religious leader was
on Sons of Libery Radio when he
dismissed same-sex marriage as a
“Satanic plot to destroy our seed”
while referring to queer folks as “a
minority group in a sense that has
decided they are going to impose
their will on the culture.”
MATT TRACY
begun to do just that.”
HOP also plans to participate in
a large-scale virtual Global Pride
event on June 27 — one day before
New York City’s Pride March was
scheduled to take place. InterPride
and the European Pride Organizers
Association have taken the lead
on organizing that event, which
will feature music, speeches, and
more.
New York City is the latest to
scrap its original plans for Pride
this year after a wave of cancelations
emerged in recent weeks
from metropolitan areas across
the country and the world. Cities
including Toronto, San Francisco,
and Boston also canceled its Pride
events outright, while Los Angeles
and Washington, DC, have postponed
In 2012, Jackson said LGBTQ
people “want to impose their will
on the culture and if you cannot
reproduce you may try to recruit…
Many Christians are sitting back
and we aren’t speaking out, but the
reality is just like during the times
of Hitler we have people coming after
one group after another group
after another group…”
Pride festivities for later
dates.
During the time leading up to
Pride’s cancelation, HOP remained
quiet about the fate of the city’s
Pride festivities in 2020, even after
most other major US cities already
announced cancelations and
changes to their Pride plans.
Following the April 20 announcement,
HOP did not respond to Gay
City News’ question as to whether
any an in-person Pride event could
happen at some point in 2020, instead
resending its original press
release.
Such an in-person event was already
in doubt, however. The cancelation
of New York City’s Pride
events was long anticipated due to
the disproportionate impact of the
coronavirus crisis on the fi ve boroughs,
where more than 130,000
confi rmed cases have been tallied
and the city’s death toll has been
estimated at more than 13,000,
with “probable” cases included.
Much of the city, including restaurants
and all other non-essential
businesses, remain shuttered
with just over a month to go until
the beginning of Pride Month.
It remains unclear when the restrictions
can be lifted, making it
all but certain that the virus will
maintain its grip on the city for the
foreseeable future.
“We are a community that
thrives when we are united,” David
A. Correa, the interim executive director
of Heritage of Pride, said in
a written statement. “We may not
fi ll the streets of New York City this
year, but LGBTQIA+ people carry
pride with them all year long. I
have no doubt that we will be together
again soon.”
Jeffress, who is the senior minister
of the First Baptist Church in
Texas — a pivotal state in the 2020
presidential election, as it has long
been a GOP stronghold but is slowly
trending purple, though likely
not fast enough for this November
— holds considerable infl uence in
➤ TRUMP & HIS BIGOTS, continued on p.5
April 23 - May 6,4 2020 | GayCityNews.com
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