Lady Gaga speaking at her concert Monday night at the Apollo Theater in Harlem:
“So it’s Pride Week. I wish it could exist 365 days of the year, but I’ll take a f–ing global week.
"Wow on Friday, the 50th anniversary of Stonewall. Yeah, that was when our community said enough is enough. And all hail to so many, including miss Marsha P. Johnson. What bravery, what courage. In the spirit of acceptance, the spirit of tolerance, the spirit of courage to be seen as you see yourself.
"I have learned so much over the years from all my fans. I feel so blessed, thank you for showing me and teaching me. And I’ve learned something very important to those people now, and I wish to share this with everyone who’s listening, not just in this theater, but around the world.
"Ask the question: ‘What. is. your. pronoun.’ Because for a lot of people, it’s really hard, and their pronouns aren’t respected or they’re not asked, and for me I’ve grown and changed over the years in a lot of different ways — I’ve felt misunderstood in different ways.
"All our hardships are different; I don’t mean to compare; I just mean to say we’re in this together, and I’ve had a million reasons to want to give up, and sometimes if you’re lucky you just need one good reason to stick around.”
Former U.S. Ambassador and Congressional candidate Rufus Gifford shared this performance by a young woman named Lavender at his local Pride event in Fitchburg, Massachusetts.
Lavender performs "Part of Your World" from the Disney classic, The Little Mermaid.
A young woman comes on stage in Fitchburg. Introduces herself as Lavender.
She tells us that she’s blind and autistic and wants to sing a song in honor of LGBT pride month.
And then she blows us all away and brings us to tears...
Wait... you are not prepared.
A young woman comes on stage today in Fitchburg. Introduces herself as Lavender. Tells us that she blind and autistic and wants to sing a song in honor of LGBT Pride.
We've seen special moments at Pride events across the country - marriage proposals at Pride events, straight 'country boy' allies in Oklahoma show up for us, and more.
What I love about this video, and the story behind it, is how Pride events, large and small, can remind us of our better selves; that we celebrate the fabulousness of how different we all are and that diversity makes us better people.
Lavender not only delivers a powerful performance, but a powerful Pride message with the lyrics of "Part of Your World."
Lavender has been singing in her local church group for years, thanks to her dads, Wil Darcangelo and Jamie Cormier.
Darcangelo founded a youth music group called the Tribe Music Mentorship Project that offers kids and young people, many from challenging backgrounds, opportunities to create music, books, art and more.
What I do know is even if Lavender weren't blind, or autistic, she would be just as awesome for wanting to share her considerable gifts with the LGBTQ crowd.
With so much coming at us from many directions these days, let's celebrate Lavender and the message she sends.
This is important to me, not only because I have family and friends that are LGBTQ+, but also because countless people have dealt with hatred and judgement simply for who they are, and/or who they love, for far too long. Obviously doing this isn't going to change the minds of those who are intolerant, but hopefully it can help drown out the hatred with love.
I live in a rural area in Oklahoma, surrounded by small towns in every direction, and I'm sure this is not a very welcome message around here, but this is going to be displayed on my truck for the entire month of June in support of pride month.
I don't think it is necessary to say, but for all intents and purposes I am a straight man that grew up here in Oklahoma. I love taking my truck mudding, going fishing, swimming at the lake, floating the river, and several other "country" activities.
It doesn't matter what negativity I receive for supporting this. I hope that this can help even the slightest bit to encourage and support at least one person that needs it.
At the time, Barlow said he intended to drive around the Sooner state and visit different Pride events to show his further support.
And that's exactly what he did.
This past weekend, Barlow joined Oklahoma City’s Pride parade and participated in all the gay goodness there, and folks were thrilled!
Barlow spent almost 11 hours taking pictures and signing autographs with those who appreciated his visible support for the LGBTQ community.
“Oklahoma City Pride is the biggest Pride in state. People come from every rural town to celebrate,” said Lauren Zuniga, the president of the Oklahoma City Pride Alliance, which organized the official event. “Cody’s truck made ‘baby gays’ feel at home. Having a visible ally like him can change the trajectory of a young person’s life.”
Check out just some of the joy Cody helped create.
NBA star Dwyane Wade shared with Variety recently that it's "his job as a father" to support his son attending a pride parade.
In April, Wade’s then 11-year-old son Zion posted pictures of himself at Miami Pride, with his siblings and stepmother Gabrielle Union.
Wade, who was on the road with the Miami Heat, chimed in and voiced his love for Zion on social media. “We support each other wide Pride!” Wade wrote on Instagram.
“I don’t really talk about it much because it’s Zion’s story to tell,” Wade said to Variety during an interview at Cannes Lions, the annual advertising conference in the South of France. “I think as a family, we should support each other. That’s our job. And my job as a father is to facilitate their lives and to support them and be behind them in whatever they want to do.”
Asked if he had a message for other parents during Pride month, Wade said it’s no different than parenting every other month of the year.
“I’m asked a question about my kids a lot from a sports perspective,” Wade said. “I think people expect you to parent each kids the same. They are all different, and I have to get to know them and where they are. I have to say to most parents, get to know your kids. Don’t put your wants and needs on them.”
1. This makes me so emotional. @RaminSetoodeh asked @DwyaneWade about how he publicly supported his son Zion at Miami Pride 🌈🌈🌈
Please watch the whole clip
“I’m very uneasy about accolades that come from supporting my kids. This is my job as a father"
Dwayne Wade and Gabby Union supporting young Zion at Miami Pride is so beautiful, I could cry. I can’t imagine having had this type of support as a kid (or even young adult). Amazing example of living in and showing unconditional love 💕 pic.twitter.com/2cT8Ow6kik
Earlier this week, partners Meghan Stabler and Sal Stow found a touching note placed under a rock on their doormat in Williamson County, Texas.
“You don’t know me, but my name is [redacted]” the note read. “We’re moving today, but I wanted to thank you.”
“Seeing a pride flag waving so proudly out side your house every day has given me the courage to come out to my family and be more comfortable with who I am,” the note concluded.
“This is why visibility is SO important,” Sal Stow wrote on Facebook in sharing the note. “You never know who needs the support and to know it’s ok. I hope this person is ok, their family is being supportive and they find a community to connect with that can help them through this brave process.”
She also explained that county officials recently voted 4-0 to not allow the Pride flag to be flown over the courthouse, but that won’t stop her from showing her pride.
“I am proud of who I am and the person I love” Stow wrote. “I will continue to be visible in whatever way I can.”
Pride In London recently released its Pride Jubilee video in anticipation of Pride events this month and their huge Pride Parade on July 6.
The video journeys through history to highlight key moments that have made Pride what it is today, as chosen by the LGBTQ community.
Earlier this year Pride in London put out an open call to the community and its partners to nominate the moments, stories and landmark events that have defined the Pride movement. The moments that came up the most were then used as the basis of the film.
With 2019 being the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising on June 28, 1969, the video encapsulates 5 decades of activism, protests and victories in the UK LGBTQ movement.
Over that time, the community faced Stonewall, the AIDS epidemic, the hideous Section 28 and more. While there were certainly bleak, difficult times, the video ends on an upbeat tone.
Pride in London says, "We want to mark the moments and the people behind them."
The organization says it used an entirely LGBTQ cast in addition to actual audio and video news footage for authenticity.
Pride in London lists these key moments in history that are depicted:
• 28th June 1969 - Queer people of colour lead the the Stonewall Uprising in New York, where members of the LGBT+ community at the Stonewall Inn rise up against continued oppression by the police and society in general
• 1st July 1972 - The first official UK Gay Pride Rally takes place in London
• Early 1980s - London is hit by the AIDS crisis, with thousands diagnosed with HIV over the course of the next decade
• 9th April 1987 - Princess Diana opens the UK's first purpose built unit for the treatment of HIV patients, shaking the hands of AIDS patients without gloves
• 9th October 1987 - Margaret Thatcher delivers anti-gay speech at Conservative Party Conference, widely seen as setting the foundations for Section 28
• 23rd May 1988 - Lesbian activists storm the 6 O’Clock News to protest the enactment of Section 28
• 12th January 2000 - The ban is lifted on lesbian, gay and bisexual people openly serving in the British Army
• 30th November 2000 - Equal age of consent for homosexual couples is finally passed after being blocked multiple times by the House of Lords
• 17th July 2013 - Same-sex marriage is passed in England and Wales
• 2019 - As anti-trans protestors continue to hijack Pride events globally and attacks on trans people treble in ten years, the fight for trans rights continues
"Every winner knows victory doesn't happen alone," says the narrator in a new video from Nike released for Pride Month. "But none of us can truly win until the rules are the same for everyone."
The new clip features athletes and allies of the LGBTQ community who support equality for all athletes including WNBA's Brittany Griner, Sue Bird, Jewell Lloyd and Jordin Canada; skaters Fernando Bramsmark, Eric Koston, and Elissa Steamer; runners Kerron Clement, Caster Semenya, Scout Bassett and Chris Mosier; and soccer player Mark McKenzie.
From Nike:
It doesn’t matter what you play. Nobody wins alone.
Whether it’s as a team, within our community, or anyone who celebrates our victory as their own — progress only comes if we get there together.
Through decades of game-changing dedication from LGBTQIA+ athletes, those who work to make sport a more inclusive space for all, and the expression of icons like designer Gilbert Baker, the playing field becomes more level every day.
But as far as we’ve come, the game won’t be equal until we all win.
For many people, Pride Month means proudly flying the rainbow flag that has come to represent the values, characteristics and freedom that we celebrate as a community.
Those rainbow stripes appear outside homes and businesses, as well as on dozens of products as corporate America seeks to join the celebration.
But a new campaign notes that not everyone is celebrating.
The folks at Out Not Down, a non-profit outreach program at Calvary-St. George’s Parish located in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood, have created the “Thrown Out Flag” initiative to bring added awareness to the fact that 40% of homeless teens who come out are thrown out of their homes.
The campaign features photos by Luke Gargano of homeless LGBTQ teens wrapped in tattered, ripped rainbow flags dubbed the “Thrown Out Flag.”
Made from discarded fabrics in traditional rainbow colors, the flags represent those teens who have also been thrown out of their homes.
Each tatter and tear is meant to tell the stories of their struggle for acceptance.
The campaign targeted teens living on the streets with outdoor posters, bus kiosks and even billboards in Times Square. Its goal was to alert at-risk youth to the services and resources provided at Out Not Down which include housing, counseling and healthcare.
There’s also an Instagram account (here) to promote the initiative.
Additionally, flags were sent out as invitations to people to attend a gathering where teens could meet caring adults and share their stories.
According to Out Not Down, teens who were discarded by their biological parents can find supportive ‘rainbow parents,’ social workers and doctors.
The message to homeless LGBTQ teens from Out Not Down is “just because you’ve been thrown out doesn’t mean you can’t pick yourself up again.”
Watch the short film about the campaign above, and then click over to OutNotDown.org for more information.
Taylor Swift dropped her awesome new music video for “You Need To Calm Down” and it’s packed to the gills with LGBTQ stars, celebs and personalities.
Featured in the video are Ellen DeGeneres, Laverne Cox, Karamo Brown, Antoni Porowski, Jonathan van Ness, Bobby Berk, Tan France, Ciara, RuPaul, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and husband Justin Mikita, Billy Porter, Adam Lambert, Adam Rippon, Ryan Reynolds, Hayley Kiyoko, Todrick Hall, Chester Lockhart, Dexter Mayfield, Hannah Hart, and Katy Perry.
Billy Porter
The song shows Taylor's "all-in" support for the LGBTQ community as the video is full of plastic wading pools, crowns for queens, bouncy beats, glitter, and queer references like GLAAD and shade.
The music video's release arrives just weeks after Swift shared an open letter to her Republican Tennessee U.S. senators calling for their support for the Equality Act, which would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
And Friday night, she surprised folks at the historic Stonewall Inn with an impromptu performance of her mega-hit "Shake It Off."
The climax of the vid is an epic trailer park food fight followed by the message:
"Let's show our pride by demanding that, on a national level, our laws truly treat all of our citizens equally.
"Please sign my petition for Senate support of the Equality Act on Change.org.
'Broadway Bares: Take Off' takes flight tonight in NYC
In the mid-1980s, I was a young actor pursuing my dreams of working on the Broadway stage in New York City as the world was reeling from the AIDS epidemic.
It was a time when friends disappeared seemingly overnight. You would hear of someone’s diagnosis, and in a matter of weeks, they were dead.
Until 1987, when AZT was approved for treating HIV, there were practically no effective treatments. Even then, while AZT slowed the progress of the disease, there could be severe side effects (nausea, vomiting, headache, numbness).
But it was something.
The theater community can be quite tribal, and artists from all walks of life in the Broadway community felt the need to mobilize and do something.
And boy, did they.
On of my personal heroes - Tom Viola, executive director Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (photo: Jennifer Broski)
Actor’s Equity Association, the union that represents actors and stage managers, created Equity Fights AIDS in 1987. The mission was to mobilize the unique abilities of the entertainment industry to address the needs of those affected by the crisis. In those early years, the aim was to help fund the newly-created AIDS initiative program of The Actors Fund.
Almost in tandem, a group of producers formed Broadway Cares in response to the death of Tony Award winning director/choreographer Michael Bennett (A Chorus Line, Dreamgirls). Their focus was to provide grants and funding for many of the young (and struggling) AIDS service organizations in New York city and other large cities heavily affected by the disease.
In 1992, the two organizations decided to merge, join forces for maximum impact, and officially become Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
Over the years, the result has been an unbelievable confluence of community coming together with purpose and passion.
It was around this time that I had been cast in the National company touring of the Broadway musical, CATS.
By 1987, we had already lost a cast member, Philip Mollett, and our dance supervisor, T. Michael Reed, to AIDS. Even out on the road, living in suitcases and constantly moving, as a group of artists we needed to find a way to help, so we organized fund raising concerts and countless other efforts.
Just one example - a massive staged tribute to the aforementioned Michael Bennett we presented in Kansas City. For weeks, we would handle our CATS duties, then sneak into empty ballrooms or conference rooms in whatever hotel we were in and rehearse sequences based on each of Bennett’s ground-breaking musicals late into the night.
The local Kansas City AIDS organization did the leg work for us finding a theater to present the event, and the PBS affiliate even sent a three camera crew to record and preserve the production for future fund raising efforts.
We were in Kansas City for a two-week run, and in the afternoons we’d go to the Uptown Theater and figure out how this was going to work. The Monday in the middle of those 14 days was our one night to pull this off.
Looking back, I remember standing in the audience of the theater with my cast mates that Monday afternoon feeling a bit overwhelmed by the task in front of us. Now that the day had arrived we were faced with the reality of how to tech our little show.
We hadn’t really thought out any lighting plot, and I guess we thought we’d just sing very loud to carry the songs out to the audience we hoped would show up. We
It was at that time - timing is everything - that members of our stage crew, who handled lights, sound, sets and costumes for CATS wandered into the theater. ‘Big Larry,’ our head carpenter and ‘Moose,’ our head spotlight operator, were looking around, exploring and chatting.
Now, we had seven one-week stops ahead of us after we left Kansas City. With one-weekers, we travel on our one day off, and the crew gets to the next theater and has to put the magic back together in time for opening nights on Tuesdays.
So we didn’t ask our guys to help out because they weren’t going to have a day off for two months. But here they were.
Community.
‘Big Larry’ waved us off telling us to just keep rehearsing.
The next thing you know, lights are coming on, floor mics cannibalized from CATS equipment were being installed at the front of the stage, and curtains were moving.
‘Moose’ only liked one of the house spotlights, so he ran off and rented another, better unit. Out of his own pocket.
I remember they told us, “This is important to you guys, so it’s important to us.” They truly were the heroes that day.
We all kept moving. It was straight out of a Judy Garland/Mickey Rooney movie - “Hey kids, let’s put on a show!”
At half-hour, I peeked out at the audience and it was only a third full. My heart sank. All this work and effort!
And then twenty minutes later, we were told we had to hold because there was a line outside the theater wrapped around the block to get in.
We ended up performing our tribute to a packed house. The audience’s response was one of the most vivid theatrical memories I have. We finished the opening number, a full staging of the opening of A Chorus Line, and the applause roared for several minutes.
Waves of love and applause came thundering across the footlights. I don’t know who was more excited, us or our audience.
I share that single effort to illustrate the determination that just one set of theater artists had in wanting to make a difference.
That night, which raised an amazing $30,000 for HIV support organizations in Kansas City and NYC, embodies the spirit of generosity that pervades the mission of Broadway Cares.
Today, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is one of the nation’s leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations.
By drawing upon the talents, resources and generosity of the American theatre community, since 1988 Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS has raised more than $300 million for essential services for people with HIV/AIDS and other critical illnesses in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington DC.
Thanks to BC/EFA, men, women and children across the country receive lifesaving medications, health care, nutritious meals, counseling and emergency financial assistance.
BC/EFA is also a major supporter of essential social service programs at The Actors Fund, including the HIV/AIDS Initiative, the Phyllis Newman Women’s Health Initiative and The Friedman Health Center for the Performing Arts.
And more than 450 AIDS and family service organizations nationwide are awarded grants annually.
Throughout the year, BC/EFA helps organize fundraising events like the scintillating Broadway Bares, a fun evening of bawdy, sexy production numbers created by Tony Award-winning director/choreographer Jerry Mitchell (Kinky Boots, Legally Blonde) and performed by the theater community’s hottest dancers.
The 28 editions of Broadway Bares have raised more than $19.1 million for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
This year’s edition, Broadway Bares: Take Off, will be held Sunday, June 16, at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. It’s one of the biggest nights on Broadway, so don’t miss it.
There will be two performances tonight - one at 9:30pm and a repeat performance at midnight. (Note - Tickets may not be available by the time you read this).
There’s also the annual Red Bucket Follies (originally known as the Gypsy of the Year event) that features original acts from each production on Broadway in a talent show format. For six weeks before the event, actors make an appeal to their audiences each night after taking bows collecting donations in red buckets.
Since 1989, the event has raised over $76 million for HIV grants.
For the 2010 edition of Gypsy of the Year, I was asked to take part in the opening number honoring the legendary Carol Channing.
I made my Broadway debut in the 1995 Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly! with the iconic star, and spent two and a half years working with the star. So, I was more than happy to put on my dancing shoes and share the stage with my dear, wonderful Carol while raising money for BC/EFA.
Here’s the number so you can get a sense of how amazing BC/EFA events can be.
I’m the blond guy next to Carol throughout the number who’s clearly high on the moment LOL.
With Pride Month in full swing, it's a great time to check out some LGBTQ-themed films you might not have gotten around to watching yet.
In honor of Pride Month, Amazon Prime Video has curated a collection of queer films and television series all in one place for you to peruse.
Click here to find not only Amazon Original entertainment including Transparent, A Very English Scandal and Made in Heaven, but award-winning LGBTQ films like:
1985: Shot on black-and-white super 16mm film, "1985" takes a unique look at a pivotal moment in American history through the prism of empathy, love and family. Starring Cory Michael Smith ("Gotham"), Virginia Madsen (Academy Award Nominee, “Sideways”), Michael Chiklis (Golden Globe Winner, "The Shield") and Jamie Chung ("The Gifted").
Leather: A young man, Birch, lives in the Catskill Mountains, in a cottage in a remote region with Walter, an older man who has an estranged gay son, Andrew. Birch and Walter make items from leather. After his father dies, Andrew returns home with Kyle, his boyfriend from the city. Birch captivates Andrew and Kyle, bringing up feelings and complicating their relationship.
Saturday Church: A 14-year-old boy, struggling with gender identity and religion, begins to use fantasy to escape his life in the inner city and find his passion in the process. Festival Favorite of Tribeca 2017
Porcupine Lake: Thirteen-year-old Bea (Charlotte Salisbury) wants a best friend more than anything else, but when she meets boisterous Kate (Lucinda Armstrong Hall) she gets more than she ever imagined. Porcupine Lake is a story of bravery and the secret world of girls set in northern Ontario during a hot and hazy summertime when adulthood has not yet arrived, but childhood is quickly vanishing.
Quiet Heroes: In Salt Lake City, Utah, the ubiquity of the Mormon Church complicated the AIDS crisis: patients received little support from-or were cast out by-their communities. With many patients abandoned by nearly everyone they knew, Dr. Kristen Ries and Maggie Snyder, PA-C partnered with an order of Catholic nuns to create a safe haven amidst a sea of hate and fear for those with nowhere else to turn.
Transmilitary: At a time when transgender people are banned from serving in the U.S. military, four transgender troops risking discharge fight to attain the freedom they so fiercely protect. 2018 SXSW Audience Award Winner, Best Documentary.
Call Her Ganda: When Jennifer Laude, a Filipina transwoman, is brutally murdered by a U.S. Marine, three women intimately invested in the case-an activist attorney (Virgie Suarez), a transgender journalist (Meredith Talusan) and Jennifer's mother (Julita "Nanay" Laude)-galvanize a political uprising, pursuing justice and taking on hardened histories of US imperialism.
