On June 30 New York City will light up the iconic Empire State Building in rainbow colors in recognition of World Pride. Additionally, 11 other city buildings will similarly be lit up to show solidarity with the world LGBTQ community.
As you may know, New York is hosting World Pride this year and also commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising. They’re expecting over four million international visitors, numerous Pride-related films, panels, parties, community events and a June 26 World Pride opening ceremony that will feature Cyndi Lauper, Chaka Khan, Ciara, Billy Porter and others.
Secret NYC has a rundown of the other city buildings that will be lit-up in rainbow colors (and when):
Barclays Center (June 24-26, June 29-30), Madison Square Garden (June 30), One Bryant Park (June 28–30), One World Trade Center (Base: June 26–30 & Spire: June 28–30), City Hall (June 10- 30), Bloomberg Headquarters (June 30) and a handful of others.
To honor World Pride, New York City has also renamed Greenwich Village’s iconic Gay Street to be more inclusive. For two weeks, Gay Street will be called “Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, Nonbinary, Pansexual, Two Spirit, + Street.” The street sign appears in a dazzling spectrum of colors.
During World Pride, there’ll be a main parade march organized by Heritage of Pride (HOP) with more than 600 groups and 120 floats participating. There will also be a second march: the Queer Liberation March and Rally organized by Reclaim Pride Coalition (RPC).
The RPC’s march is expected to not feature corporate floats, campaigning politicians, uniformed police officers, or restrictions like metal barricades and requiring participants to have a wristband.
The main Pride march’s grand marshals include some of the transgender actresses from the groundbreaking FX ballroom drama Pose and Monica Helms, creator of the trans Pride flag.
