PRIDE
Pride Events Cancelled in Cities Amid Pandemic
Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, and San Francisco among latest to nix 2021 plans
BY TAT BELLAMY-WALKER
LGBTQ organizers in major
US cities are suspending
Pride festivals as the
COVID-19 pandemic
continues to have a widespread
impact.
Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, Oakland,
and San Francisco are among
the areas that have pulled their
Pride activities as of late due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. San Francisco
Pride issued an announcement
on September 3 explaining that
the LGBTQ Freedom Day Festival,
scheduled for October 10, would
be cancelled for this year, according
to the Bay Area Reporter, while
nearby Oakland scrapped its September
12 march and festival due
to COVID. Ω
On September 1, parade organizer
Tim Frye announced that
the Chicago Pride March in October
had been cancelled until next
year due to the ongoing COVID-19
pandemic.
“We really wanted and hoped
that there could be a parade in
2021,” Frye wrote in a letter regarding
the cancellation. “We
don’t feel, though, that we can do
it safely for everyone in the parade
and the people watching. We must
cancel the parade for the second
year.”
The Chicago Pride March,
which usually runs in late June,
was moved to the fall because organizers
believed the event would
be safer if more people were vaccinated
against COVID-19. However,
there is still hope for future
events.
“We have already scheduled the
2022 Chicago Pride Parade for
Sunday, June 26, 2022,” Frye continued
in the letter. “We’re going to
believe that in June, 2022 we are
living in a far safer world than now.
We intend to have the best, most
joyous, fabulous, memorable Pride
Parade ever. Count on it!”
Last month, Atlanta Pride organizers
announced a similar move
to suspend their annual festival,
which was scheduled for October
9 to October 10. In a statement,
The Chicago Pride March has been postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
offi cials said they are adhering to
the CDC’s guidelines against large
gatherings amid rising cases of the
delta variant.
Prior to the announcement,
New Orleans LGBTQ artist Big
Freedia and out gay entertainer
Todrick Hall were slated to perform
at the festival. Ahead of the
Pride cancellations in the midwest
and the deep south, organizers in
Austin, Texas, halted Pride activities
until “further notice” due to a
rapid increase in new strains of
COVID-19.
“It is with an unimaginably
heavy heart that we have to announce
our Parade and street
party, scheduled for this Saturday,
are postponed for an indeterminate
REUTERS/KAMIL KRZACZYNSK
time,” wrote Pride offi cials in
a press release.
Over the summer, Philly Pride
Presents (PPP) abruptly ended
its organization and canceled
its “Pride-lite” events in the fall
for failing to prioritize the voices
of LGBTQ individuals of color,
reports the Philadelphia Gay
News.
September 9 - September 22, 2 24 021 | GayCityNews.com
/GayCityNews.com
