PRIDE
Mix of Virtual, In-Person Pride Events Planned
Borough-based events, neighborhood festivities taking shape ahead of Pride month
BY TAT BELLAMY-WALKER
Beyond the Reclaim Pride Coalition’s
Queer Liberation March and the virtual
Heritage of Pride event, a mix
of borough-based Pride events and
local festivities are on tap heading into Pride
month.
The Queens Pride March and Festival is returning
in 2021 with “Summer of Pride,” which
will include a series of events ranging from inperson
to virtual over the summer months. The
organization plans on hosting three programs
— an LGBTQ roundtable in June, a documentary
screening about the history of Queens Pride
in July, and an in-person march in August. The
group postponed their annual Pride parade due
to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
“Queens Pride will not be having our normal
annual march in June, but in its place, we will
be having a Pride roundtable that we will announce
the details of soon,” Queens Pride said
in a written statement to Gay City News. “We
understand that this is not the normal time of
year for the march, but with everything considered
surrounding vaccination rates, vaccine
hesitancy, and reopening complications/lack of
guidelines, we believe that an August event will
provide a much more opportune environment
for in-person festivities.”
The decision to change the date of the march
came down to safety, organizers said.
“We love this event and know how much
this march means to our community here in
Queens,” the group said in a statement. “Our
Pride march is a much-anticipated yearly event,
and we want to make sure that when we do it,
we are both being safe and that we are providing
the absolute best environment and experience
for everyone in Queens.”
Similarly, Mickey Heller, co-chair of Brooklyn
Pride, said this year’s Pride festivities would debut
later than usual. On June 7, Brooklyn Pride
will host a rooftop party at the AIDS Healthcare
Foundation’s Out of the Closet Thrift Shop at
475 Atlantic Avenue between 6:00 p.m. to 8:30
p.m. A couple of days later, there is a virtual
“Paint-n-Sip” and drag bingo with Jackie from
Screaming Queens. During the weekend, organizers
will kick off a mini street festival with
live stage performances along Fifth Avenue
from Third to Fifth Streets.
On June 13, attendees can walk along the
sidewalks from Fourth Avenue to the waterfront
for “Pride Atlantic Avenue,” an event starting at
noon and features food, drinks, art displays,
and entertainment.
Meanwhile, advocates in Harlem are sticking
to a range of online programming that spans
Queens Pride during the year of Stonewall 50 and WorldPride in 2019.
from a virtual queer fi lm festival to a fi tness
challenge. Harlem Pride commences virtually
on June 26 at 6 p.m. with a star-studded
event highlighting celebrities, artists, community
leaders, and comedians. A virtual memorial
will be held to help community members
honor people who have died of COVID-19, anti-
LGBTQ bias, and other causes through the end
of June.
In the Bronx, Helen Greenberg, a spokesperson
for Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz
Jr., said the offi ce does not have a Pride event
planned for the Bronx. Greenberg said the offi
ce is speaking with organizers who might
have programming in place of their event. Two
years ago, there was a rally, march, and festival
to commemorate Pride in the Bronx.
Brighton Beach Pride is coming back with
an in-person march on May 30 at noon on the
boardwalk. The event is led by RUSA LGBT —
a network of Russian-speaking people, their
friends, and loved ones. Last year, due to disruption
from the COVID-19 pandemic, Brighton
Beach Pride moved their Pride festival to
YouTube live after previously hosting in-person
events.
STARR, a transgender advocacy group, has
planned a march for June 27 at 1 p.m. that will
start in Times Square and head toward Christopher
Street. STARR’s founder, Mariah Lopez,
said the organization’s route pays homage to
trailblazing late LGBTQ advocates like Marsha
DONNA ACETO
P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and Bayard Rustin.
“We chose the route for the historic signifi -
cance; trans women/sex workers like Marsha/
Sylvia found refuge in Times Square years before
and after Stonewall,” Lopez said in a statement
to Gay City News.
LGBTQ advocates in Staten Island have already
started their Pride festivities, including
virtual bingo, bowling, and an LGBTQ youth
prom. Also, organizers are hosting a virtual
“PrideFest” on May 29 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. that
will stream live on Facebook and YouTube
Heritage of Pride (HOP), which is hosting a
virtual Pride event with “in-person elements,”
also has other smaller events, including a hybrid
version of Pride Island, which will feature
a dance party virtually and some in-person
behind-the-scenes events in the days leading
up to the festivities. From June 21 to June 23,
organizers are hosting a Human Rights Conference
to celebrate diverse voices within the LGBTQ
community. HOP is also bringing back its
LGBTQ street fair on June 27. During the range
of programming, attendees can also expect virtual
family movie nights and digital rallies.
The Reclaim Pride Coalition, which is having
an in-person march with a live broadcast,
will use the livestreamed event to also show
pre-recorded interviews and segments from the
coalition’s panel discussions in collaboration
with the Bureau of General Services – Queer
Division.
May 20 - June 2,6 2021 | GayCityNews.com
/GayCityNews.com
