Tag: Pride50

Free people from all over the world descended on New York City for the first-ever WorldPride celebration to be held in the U.S. marking the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. Here’s how our 30-something New York-based writer John Russell survived the magic and mayhem. Press check-in for the WorldPride Opening Ceremony at Barclays Center goes pretty smoothly, though there’s no place on the “Rainbow carpet” for me. Which is fine because the battery on my phone is about to...

Jana Shortal Lesbian news co-anchor at NBC-affiliate KARE 11’s “Breaking the News” in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 2016, Shortal appeared on air with short curly hair, a blazer, a pocket square, pants, and a David Bowie t-shirt. Her look broke the unspoken “rules” of maintaining traditional gender norms on TV and inspired (and outraged) viewers by illustrating there are myriad ways a professional female can look. When Shortal first began working as a TV anchor in the early 2000s, she hid...

Andrew Chael A Harvard astrophysicist who helped capture the first ever image of an actual black hole in space. In April 2019, Chael and a team of over 200 international astronomers and computer scientists working on the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) accomplished a feat once considered impossible: They captured an image of a black hole. It initially seemed impossible because black holes emit no light, a complication made even more puzzling considering the photo’s subject would be millions of light...

On Friday night—the first night of NYC’s historic World Pride weekend—the city’s glitterati will gather for a black-tie gala at Rockefeller Center’s iconic Rainbow Room. Hosted by BD Wong, Kate Walsh, and Born This Way Foundation president and co-founder Cynthia Germanotta, the affair known as the Love Above All Ball will benefit Gaga and her mamma’s philanthropic org and feature fabulous live performances by Betty Who and Marina, among others. Warming the crowd up with a sexy, optimistic disco set will...

Monica Helms A transgender activist and veteran of the U.S. Navy. She created the Transgender Pride Flag and founded of the Transgender American Veterans Association (TAVA). In 1999, Helms created the trans flag from an image she’d had in a dream. She quickly sketched out on a bedside notepad, appreciating it for its symmetry, and it has since become an instantly recognizable icon for the most cutting edge of the LGBTQ rights movement. “The palindromic design (of the flag)...

Don Lemon, 53 News anchor The host of CNN Tonight and self-proclaimed “Twitter king,” Lemon is fearless, whether the topic is Donald Trump, gun violence, racism, or homophobia. He came out publicly in 2011 in a New York Times interview about his memoir, Transparent, which details his youth in Louisiana and the years he spent working his way into the echelons of national broadcast news. Even before that, he revealed on-air that he’d been molested as a child. In typical...

Kelsey Louie with Gay Men’s Health Crisis founder Larry KramerKelsey Louie, 44 CEO of Gay Men’s Health Crisis As a kid, Kelsey Louie dreamed of one day becoming a doctor. In college at NYU, he realized he could impact people’s well-being in another way: as a social worker. And that’s just what he did, spending the first seven years of his career at Harlem United Community AIDS Center, eventually becoming the non-profit’s chief operating officer. Then, in 2014, at...

This is the third in a series of “Then & Now” articles looking at historic places that have made New York the cradle of LGBTQ life from Stonewall to today at Pride 50. Stonewall Inn gets all the glory, but it’s hardly the only gay bar in Greenwich Village that was the site of groundbreaking activism. This former speakeasy at the corner of West 10th Street and Waverly Place began attracting gay men in the 1950s, making it the city’s...

The world’s first out chorus and one of the largest musical groups in the world. The San Francisco version of the chorus is credited with starting the choral movement. Today, there are more than 240 in the United States alone. They’ve also continually advocated for equality while giving marginalized queer people a way to heal and find acceptance through friendship and music. While many choruses throughout history had gay members, the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus was the...

Adam Eli, 28 Queer activist, writer Eli co-cofounded the New York-based activist group Voices 4, utilizing social media as a tool to affect change. The group’s mission is simple: “Global LGBTQIA+ liberation.” The group uses Instagram to connect with like-minded folks who want to take an active hand in reshaping the world. It functions as a hub for sharing ideas, planning marches and direct action, and organizing meetings. His own personal Instagram account has an impressive 54.7K followers, and...

John Cameron Mitchell accepts the Queerty Pride50 Catalyst AwardWorld Pride in New York City is still officially a week away, but the rainbow momentum is palpable. Queerty kicked things off on Wednesday with a dazzling evening at Town Stages in SoHo to celebrate this year’s Pride50 honorees and to recognize 50 years of remarkable advancements in LGBTQ culture since Stonewall. The looks were on point, naturally, but the real spirit of the room was focused on 50 trailblazing individuals who actively...

Sharice Davids, 39 U.S. Representative for the 3rd Congressional District of Kansas Davids is the first LGBTQ Native American member of Congress and is co-chair of the Equality Caucus. With her diligent approach to learning the ropes and her eloquence, Davids quickly has emerged as one of the most promising freshmen members of Congress. Davids made history when she was elected to Congress last November, defeating four-term incumbent Republican Kevin Yoder. One of two Native American women to...

Taylor Mac Performance artist, maximalist chanteuse, oral historian, raconteur Mac’s masterpiece, “The 24-Decade History of Popular Music,” delivered exactly as advertised: 24 hours of performances, 24 o.v.e.r.t.h.e.t.o.p. looks courtesy of costume designer Machine Dazzle, and 246 songs, all performed by Mac. The astounding spectacle wove together queer history through song and spoken word, bringing audiences to fits of laughter and tears — sometimes simultaneously. Mac received a MacArthur genius grant for the work, and the show was a finalist for...

Pidgeon Pagonis (they/them)  Intersex American activist, writer, and artist Pagonis is on the forefront of the conversation about intersexuality and the opposition to nonconsensual intersex medical intervention. Soon after discovering they were intersex, Pagonis began advocating and educating others on intersex identity and the issues facing those in the community through their YouTube videos and documentary, A Normal Girl. Pagonis has been honored by the Obama White House as a Champion of Change in 2015, and more recently was featured on...