While the global coronavirus pandemic may have forced Pride 2020 events around the world to cancel, including the UK’s biggest parade, Pride London, that doesn’t mean you can’t still join in with the annual month-long celebration of LGBTI+ rights. This year events organisers have gotten creative and taken their offerings online, with everything from global sing-alongs to festivals and concerts going digital. Here we’ve rounded up the best ways to bring the spirit of Pride into your own home.
Project Pride Concert
Hosted by the Smithsonian Pride Alliance, which was first formed in 1988 in the midst of the AIDS crisis, Project Pride will kick off Pride Month with a blockbuster concert featuring some of the world’s biggest LGBTI+ artists, including The Pet Shop Boys and Rufus Wainwright. Available to stream for free on YouTube (though an RSVP is required), the broadcast will also feature a celebration of LGBTI+ heritage, culture and history with a host of musicians, artists and allies.
At 8pm on 31 May
eventbrite.com
Pride in London
While the UK’s biggest and most diverse Pride parade may not be going ahead this year, Pride in London is organising a raft of digital events for their vibrant community, with everything from virtual speed dating to pop-up painting parties on offer. Alongside this they’re asking members of the LGBTI+ community to get in touch through the hasthtag #YouMeUsWe (the theme of Pride in London 2020) and tell them a time they felt queer allyship. They’ll then be sharing these stories across their social media channels, to show the world the community is together and stronger than ever.
Ongoing throughout the month of June
prideinlondon.org
Bi-Fi Festival
Bi Pride UK, the charity that creates spaces for those who experience attraction beyond gender, is back with the second instalment of its annual Pride event, Bi-Fi Festival. This year the virtual extravaganza will be a night-long celebration of bi voices, live-streamed on Twitch and featuring thought-provoking panel discussions around mental health in lockdown and what it means to be bi and BAME, with a line-up that includes drag queens, comedians and spoken word artists. The online party will wrap up with a live DJ set late into the night.
On 20 June
biprideuk.org
Out Now Live
Curated by queer digital platform Them, this day-long virtual festival will present a series of star-studded events, streamed across their social media channels, featuring uplifting messages and stories from the LGBTI+ community and its allies, as well as special musical performances from renowned artists including singer-songwriter Hayley Kiyoko and indie band Tegan and Sara. Alongside this you can expect appearances from big names like Edward Enninful, Cynthia Nixon, Michael Kors and Naomi Campbell, to list just a few.
On 22 June
them.us
Global Pride 2020
This 24-hour live-streamed event – which features the tagline: “Exist. Persist. Resist” – will be pulling together some of the world’s biggest international Pride networks, including those in the UK, Canada and the US, to create a truly global celebration. Throughout the day there’ll be a host of musical and artistic performances and speeches from activists and campaigners, as well as addresses by key public figures, all aiming to keep the essence of Pride alive through the Covid-19 crisis. They’re releasing new names every day, but so far the line-up includes performances from Olivia Newton-John and Grammy Award-winning Motown legend Thelma Houston.
On 27 June
globalpride2020.org
Pride Inside
Amnesty international will be teaming up with UK Black Pride, Stonewall and ParaPride to take their celebrations online this year – a particularly poignant move in light of the fact that the coronavirus crisis is having a disproportionate effect on the LGBTI+ community, who are historically marginalised and discriminated against in their access to health care, employment, housing and basic services. The week-long festival will feature gigs, comedy shows, panel discussions and arts-based events from an exciting array of LGBTI+ comedians, artists, DJs, musicians and activists, in a bid to raise awareness of at-risk individuals and provide opportunities for people to take action and make change.
From 28 June – 5 July
amnesty.org.uk
Anthems Pride Podcast
This recently launched podcast, dedicated to celebrating diverse voices in the LGBTI+ community, will be releasing a new episode every single day of Pride month. Produced by Broccoli Content, a podcast company that looks to create new opportunities for minority talents both behind and in front of the mic, the show has assembled a stellar line-up, featuring the likes of How to Be a Gentlewoman author Lotte Jeffs, writer and Instagram sensation Raven Smith and Britain’s first Muslim drag queen Asifa Lahore. Each of the bite-sized episodes is less than 10 minutes long, so instead of the more traditional podcast format you can expect soulful bursts of poetry and rallying calls to action.
A new episode is released every day throughout June
broccolicontent.com
