We are living in the middle of the global health crisis and we may never be able to forget this knock-on effect of the novel coronavirus. Even when all of this is over, festivals, events, eating-out experiences, night outs, movie-date won’t ever look the same as they did in the pre-coronavirus world.
A lot of travel plans, film festivals, movie releases have been cancelled owing to the pandemic. And the month of June, which is is marked as Pride month across the world, is also witnessing event cancellations. Pride month is certainly going to be fundamentally different this year. We may not see rainbow flags floating in the streets this year, but we will see rainbow colours on our feeds. Pride month celebrations are going online because the strong as ever spirit of the LGBTQ+ community will always live on even if they can’t meet for in-person celebrations. Read on to know how it’s being celebrated around the world:
Take Part In This #21DaysAlly Challenge By India’s Pride Circle
Pride Circle, India’s premier Diversity & Inclusion consulting, has initiated a global #21DayAllyChallenge to “take conscious steps to recognise and neutralise biases and stereotypes about the LGBT+ community and enable social change”.
So what’s this challenge all about? “The campaign engages participants in a series of 21 micro-challenges/ actions/ activities the entire month of June, celebrating Pride month. The initiative leverages gamification and recognition to drive increased engagement,” reads their Instagram caption.
The micro-challenges that kickstarted on June 1 involve tasks like ‘reading a coming out story’, ‘apprising yourself of SOGIESC’ (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Gender Expression, and Sex Characteristics) that will help you understand different identities within the spectrum, and ‘introspecting on why you are striving to become an ally’.
Ramakrishna Sinha of Parent Circle told The Hindu in an interview that, “The premise of the challenge was based on three things: what does it really mean to be an ally, acknowledging that in today’s context allyship is more important then ever because safe spaces in the physical world have been taken away with the added anxiety of the pandemic. Pride marches are cancelled, so it’s important we build a platform where we can come together as a global community.”
Participate in the challenge here.
Global Pride 2020
Global Pride is an initiative from pride networks all over the world. The 24-hour live stream show will have musical and artistic performances, speeches from pride activists and campaigners from across the world. Public figures will also address the viewers, and Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil of India, Prime Ministers of Norway and Luxembourg, and President of Costa Rica are few of the speakers.
Sign up for the even here.
NYC Pride
NYC Pride is the OG pride parade that started the movement in 1969. This year NYC Pride is commemorating its 50th anniversary with virtual celebrations. From art festivals, drag fest, garden parties to workshops and culinary events, you can access it all online. The Pride Broadcast Event will feature performances by Janelle Monáe, Deborah Cox, Billy Porter, Luísa Sonza. Find more details here.
PinkNews’ Digital Pride Extravaganza
PinkNews, a UK-based organisation has come up with an online event, called Pride For All, that will have celebrities, influencers and politicians as participants. The four-day celebration promises to bring a lot of content like Q&As, sing along to unmissable concerts, and some great conversations. Check out the details here, it starts tomorrow!
Cincinnati Black Pride
Cincinnati Black Pride starts on June 25 and this one will have a great film festival showcasing movies and documentaries. The aim of the festival is to encourage storytelling, cultivate new dialogues and educate communities about the cultural and social contributions that Black LGBTQ-identified people have made upon the world. Of course, there’s a virtual party too! Check out the details here.
Featured Image: Instagram
