There is a great variety of virtual entertainment out there being offered throughout the month of PRIDE. Watch you choose to watch is all up to you. Sit back and laugh, lean forward and get educated, or sit up and say wtf did I just see?
This week we’re highlighting a new batch of virtual bites you can sink your eyes into.
WHAT: BLACK QUEER TOWN HALL – Hosted by BOB THE DRAG QUEEN and PEPPERMINT
Advocates and entertainers Peppermint and Bob the Drag Queen, today announced the “Black Queer Town Hall,” one of NYC Pride’s official partner events this year. Performers and advocates slated to appear include Laverne Cox, Mj Rodriguez, Angelica Ross, Todrick Hall, Monet X Change, Isis King, Shea Diamond, Tiq Milan, Alex Newell, and Basit. Peppermint and Bob the Drag Queen will host and produce the event.
The “Black Queer Town Hall” will feature performances, roundtable discussions, and fundraising opportunities for #BlackLivesMatter, Black LGBTQ organizations, and local Black LGBTQ drag performers. The new event replaces the previously announced “Pride 2020 Drag Fest” and will shift focus of the event to center Black queer voices. During the “Black Queer Town Hall,” a diverse collection of LGBTQ voices will celebrate Black LGBTQ people and discuss pathways to dismantle racism and white supremacy. Viewers can contribute directly to each of the Black drag performers during their scheduled performance time and can also contribute to organizations run by and serving Black LGBTQ people.
WHERE: NYC Pride and GLAAD will stream the virtual event on YouTube and Facebook
For more information about the “Black Queer Town Hall” click here.
WHAT: DISCLOSURE – Netflix Original Documentary
DISCLOSURE is an unprecedented, eye-opening look at transgender depictions in film and television, revealing how Hollywood simultaneously reflects and manufactures our deepest anxieties about gender. Leading trans thinkers and creatives, including Laverne Cox, Lilly Wachowski, Yance Ford, Mj Rodriguez, Jamie Clayton, and Chaz Bono, share their reactions and resistance to some of Hollywood’s most beloved moments. Grappling with films like A Florida Enchantment (1914), Dog Day Afternoon, The Crying Game, and Boys Don’t Cry, and with shows like The Jeffersons, The L-Word and Pose, they trace a history that is at once dehumanizing, yet also evolving, complex, and sometimes humorous. What emerges is a fascinating story of dynamic interplay between trans representation on screen, society’s beliefs, and the reality of trans lives. Reframing familiar scenes and iconic characters in a new light, director Sam Feder invites viewers to confront unexamined assumptions, and shows how what once captured the American imagination now elicit new feelings. DISCLOSURE provokes a startling revolution in how we see and understand trans people.
WHEN: Friday, June 19
WHERE: NETFLIX
WHAT: Trans Pride L.A.
The Los Angeles LGBT Center proudly presents one of the nation’s oldest and largest
celebrations of the Trans/Gender Non-Conforming/Non-Binary community. The two-day event will have virtual workshops, panel discussions, art exhibit, and the highly-anticipated VarieTy Show.
Follow and join Trans Pride L.A. on social media by using hashtag #TPLA2020 and
tagging the Center @lalgbtcenter.
WHERE: lalgbtcenter.org/transpride
WHEN: Friday, June 19 7–10:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 20 Noon–9:30 p.m.
WHAT: “FREEDIA GOT A GUN” – WORLD OF WONDER-PRODUCED DOCUMENTARY
Devastated after learning her brother Adam was murdered, New Orleans bounce legend Big Freedia uses her platform to raise awareness about the complexities of gun violence, a nationwide epidemic that continues to disproportionally harm Black communities. As Freedia shares her personal journey from growing up gay in the projects through Hurricane Katrina and chasing her musical dreams, she delves deep into the first-hand experiences she and the community have had with gun violence, seeking to uncover the causes behind it. She is not alone in her quest to make the streets of New Orleans safer for the next generation: mothers, teachers, students and others personally affected reveal the collective trauma left in the wake of this violence. Her brother’s murder still unsolved, Freedia leads us through a courageous and necessary dialogue about the origins of this American epidemic.
WHO: Big Freedia, International Queen of Bounce music and New Orleans-based hip-hop artist
Director Chris McKim, Producers Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato and Chris McKim, Executive Producer Charles Blow
WHERE: AFI Docs 2020 Virtual Film Festival – DOCS.AFI.com.
The 18th edition of the festival will present films in the following sections: Special Presentations, Feature Films, Cinema’s Legacy, Episodic and Short Film sections. DOCS.AFI.com.
WHEN: AFI DOCS 2020 runs June 17–21, with films available to view on DOCS.AFI.com.
“FREEDIA GOT A GUN” willbe available June 20, 2020 for the 24-hour period.
WHAT: Chicago Pride
WHEN: June 20-21
WHERE: Virtual Chicago Pride Fest
Celebrate virtually with Virtual Chicago Pride Fest, the live-streamed event and fundraiser on June 20-21, with a full line-up of entertainment, activism, and ways to support Chicago’s diverse LGBTQ+ community.
Learn more about Chicago’s LGBTQ history and landmarks, including the Legacy Walk, an outdoor museum commemorating the life and work of notable lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender heroes. On June 23rd, the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Eric Marcus (founder and host of the award-winning podcast Making Gay History) will also be hosting a discussion on the rarely heard stories of Jewish LGBTQ+ historical figures.
For additional tips on how to celebrate Pride 2020 in Chicago, please visit: https://www.choosechicago.com/articles/festivals-special-events/chicago-pride-month/
What has been your best virtual entertainment so far?
We will share more as the month goes on, but let us know what we should be tuning into.