Core Celebrations
On June 28, the actors Bowen Yang, Peppermint and Dominique Jackson will be three of the grand marshals leading New York City’s official Pride March, which starts at 26th Street and Fifth Avenue at noon. Over on Fourth Avenue from Eighth to 14th Streets, expect to find queer writers, entertainers and local vendors at the free Pride Fest street fair.
Get a head start on June 27 at the block-party-style Youth Pride, an afternoon event for queer and ally teenagers at South Street Seaport, and at the Dyke March, which steps off at Bryant Park at 5 p.m.
Other Pride Month parades and festivals can be found on Staten Island (May 30); in Queens (June 7); in Westchester County, N.Y. (June 7); in Brooklyn (June 13); on Long Island (June 14); in the Bronx (June 20); in the Hudson Valley (June 20); and in Harlem (June 27).
Move Your Body
This year marks the 50th anniversary of ABBA’s queer anthem “Dancing Queen.” Be one on June 11, when the High Line hosts its first-ever, free Pride dance party: Zestyworld on the High Line, a joyful gathering of “gworls, gays and theys” at the covered passage on the High Line at 15th Street. On June 14, the day rave Everybooty takes over four floors of the Brooklyn Academy of Music in Fort Greene.
Make sure your inner Dionysius takes a disco nap before heading to the clubs over Pride weekend. The Brut Party at DRAMMA Times Square starts on June 26 and goes until 6 the next morning. In Brooklyn on June 27, Kim Petras leads the LadyLand Festival at Under the K Bridge Park in Greenpoint, and the D.J. duo Loud Luxury is a headliner at Planet Pride at Pacha New York in East Williamsburg.
A Whole Lotta Drag
On June 6, the Brooklyn Museum celebrates 30 years of Brooklyn Pride with an evening of music, talks and Drag and Draw, a sketch-it-yourself event featuring appearances by Charlene, La Zavaleta and other drag performers.
If your style of drag is more green thumb than middle finger, head to Randall’s Island Park for Pride Night on the Farm on June 6. The drag queens Janae Sais Quois, Nani Tsunami and Moxy Cillin will perform, and there will be food, drinks and a craft area for making bouquets. Head home with free compost and seedlings.
On June 21, the drag king Murray Hill — the self-proclaimed “hardest-working middle-aged man in show business” — hosts International House of Drag Kings, a 1 p.m. brunch at the Cutting Room in NoMad. The menu promises boys, booze, bacon and more.
Bold Expressions and Explorations
Sports, queerness and the legacy of AIDS intersect in “Bases Loaded,” a new exhibition by Jordan Eagles at Pioneer Works in Red Hook, Brooklyn, through Aug. 9. Eagles, a longtime Mets fan, is showing a series of the team’s giveaway T‑shirts that he splattered with blood drawn from an H.I.V.‑positive gay man to demonstrate how fandom is tied to politics and identity.
A new solo exhibition from the artist David Antonio Cruz explores intimacy and the boundaries between private and public spaces. The site-specific installation is on view through Aug. 9 at the Glyndor Gallery at Wave Hill, a 28-acre public garden and cultural center in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx.
On the Screen
“Funeral Parade of Roses,” a groundbreaking psychedelic film from 1969 set in Tokyo’s transgender underground, is among the classic queer films in Pride: From A to Z at Quad Cinema in the West Village (June 5-25).
Other queer film highlights: The Pride Center of Staten Island is hosting a drag contest and a screening of the 2005 dramedy “Kinky Boots” at the St. George Theater (June 5). Film at Lincoln Center is showing “The Little Sister,” a coming-of-age story about a Muslim teenager (June 5-8). The Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens, is screening “Buddies,” a landmark 1985 film about the friendship between a man with AIDS and a visiting hospital volunteer (June 7).
Pop Music Mavens
Lesbians love musical theater, too! That’s the idea behind “Sapphic Broadway,” a concert of beloved lesbian show tunes, including “Changing My Major” from “Fun Home” and “Take Me or Leave Me” from “Rent.” The show is on June 2 at 54 Below in Midtown Manhattan; it will also be livestreaming on the club’s website.
Big Freedia, the queer queen of New Orleans bounce, will be at Sony Hall in the Theater District, as part of the Blue Note Jazz Festival (June 24).
Celebrate With Song
On June 16 at David Geffen Hall, Ted Sperling conducts the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, the singers Jenn Colella and Noah J. Ricketts and the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus in “Celebrate Pride!,” with music by Leonard Bernstein, Caroline Shaw and other composers.
Tuneful Revelations
The pianist Eric Scott Reed described his album “Out Late” as being about “finding myself much later in life.” Reed joins the bassist Danton Boller and the drummer Willie Jones III to perform music from the album at Dizzy’s Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center (June 26-27).
Dog Day Afternoon
Dogs get their own catwalk at Woof Fest, a family-friendly afternoon of drag performances and activities for pups and their parents. It’s on June 6 at Manhattan West Plaza at Hudson Yards.
For Families
On June 6, children of all ages are invited to an afternoon picnic at the Cathedral Gardens of St. John the Divine in Morningside Heights. There will be games and a performance by the Queer Big Apple Corps marching band. Tickets are free with an R.S.V.P.
Music history sings at the “LGBTQ+ Listening Library,” an exhibition that lets you play a song from queer artists like Sylvester and Tracy Chapman the old-school way: on cassette, vinyl or CD. Good for teenagers 16 and over, the show is at ArtsWestchester in White Plains, N.Y., through Aug. 2.
Fashion and Passion
The renowned fashion designer Halston would have turned 94 this year. His life and his eye for minimalist luxury are the subject of Raffaele Pacitti’s new solo play “Mister Halston,” which runs from June 2 to 21 at the Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, N.Y. Matt McGrath stars.
Also onstage: “Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorized Musical Parody,” at the 6th Floor Theater at Culture Club in Chelsea; and the National Queer Theater’s multidisciplinary Criminal Queerness Festival at Here Arts Center in Lower Manhattan (June 9-27).
Cutting Comedy
Mina Hartong hosts an evening of lesbian comedians at Pangea in the East Village (June 11). Rainbow Riot, a night of Black and queer stand-up, sketch, and improv comedy, is at the Brooklyn Comedy Collective at Eris in Williamsburg (June 14). The Gaylarious LGBT Pride Laugh Festival is at the Broadway Comedy Club in Midtown (June 24).
The Library Is Open
On June 6, the author Ricky Tucker reads from his book “And the Category Is …,” a history of New York City’s drag ball scene, at the Queens Public Library’s Hunts Point branch in Long Island City. Stick around for a vogueing demonstration by Khaos Lanvin.
Ride It Out
On June 14, the group OutCycling presents its annual Pride Ride through New York and New Jersey, with 40-, 65- and 100-mile route options. Recover with a barbecue party at the finish line. Registration is required.
At the Ballpark
The Mets host its annual Pride Night on June 26. The “RuPaul’s Drag Race” alum Jan Sport hosts a free pregame party featuring a live D.J., mascot appearances and performances by the Queens Crew, the team’s hype troupe.
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