New York City, where pride all began. This year’s pride events were bigger and better attended they ever, more glitter, more rainbows, more amazing queer people celebrating themselves. Pride is such a wonderful not only to have a great outfit and go out to some fun parties but to come together as a community. This year’s theme was Defiantly Different, a great encapsulation of the queer community and our boldness to not conform to the standards of the world.
New York City Pride was perfect for that. Of course, every single gay bar from the West Village to Hell’s Kitchen had a million drink specials and drag shows, but this year Heritage of Pride made even more official events. Highlights from this year included Youth Pride for all the amazing queer kids out there, the Rally at Stonewall, which had a great speech by NYC drag legend Marti Gold Cummings, and Pride Fest, full of all the best vendors. Of course, there were the official parties, too, from MasterBeat to Fantasy to Teaze to the Rooftop Party and the Luminaries Brunch.
The main event always is the parade. This year they changed the parade route since last year the parade went so long, and crowd control was difficult. The new route was somewhat controversial since it de-entered Stonewall, the place where it all began. However, the parade itself ran smoothly and was fabulous as ever. The grand marshals were Billy Jean King, Lambda Legal, Tyler Ford, and Kenita Placide. Cynthia Nixon and Bill de Blasio were there as well as a whole crew of RuPaul’s Drag Race girls including Miz Cracker, Peppermint, Sasha Velour, Alexis Michele, Dusty Ray Bottoms, Asia O’Hara, Eureka, Kameron Michaels, and Aquaria. Several local NYC drag queens like Brita Filter, Lemon, and Gina Tonic also walked in the parade.
In addition to the parade, the other most anticipated event is the pier dance. For the second year in a row, Pride broke it up into a two night affair called Pride Island. On Saturday, we had performances by current reigning drag race queen Sasha Velour, Lizzo, Big Freedia, and Tove Lo. On Sunday–after the parade–the real tea dance began, and despite some rain, it was a magical evening. The headliner for the concert was none other than the legendary Kylie Minogue who gave an unforgettable performance and seemed so happy to be singing at pride. Pride was officially ended with a massive rainbow fireworks display.
That’s all for now, next year: WORLD PRIDE in New York City, celebrating 50 years since it all began at Stonewall.
