Queer communities from around the globe will gather for a virtual, 24-hour Global Pride event on June 27 that will continue highlighting the international movement to address racism and police brutality following the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
The virtual event will feature numerous performances as well as messages from world leaders including former Vice President Joe Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, and key celebrities such as Laverne Cox, Adam Lambert, Kesha, and Todrick Hall.
The coronavirus pandemic has opened up the opportunity for a cross-cultural, trans-national celebration
The international global event comes one year after New York City hosted WorldPride on the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. The event’s virtual setting in 2020 reflects a broader shift toward bringing Pride events online for now due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A press release detailing the event stated that Global Pride organizers will be working with founders of the Black Lives Matter movement, but the release did not mention any specific leaders.
Natalie Thompson, a co-chair of Global Pride’s organizing committee, said in a written statement, “As a Black woman in the LGBTQIA+ community, I feel we must confront the systemic racism and violence facing my Black brothers, sisters and non-binary siblings, in the larger culture and within the LGBQIA+ community. I could not think of a larger platform than Global Pride to do this.”
Thompson continued, “We have been watching an epidemic of violence against trans people of color — mostly women — in the past decade and this larger discussion must be inclusive and all encompassing. All Black Lives Matter.”
Organizers from Canada, the United States, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Germany, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, Latvia, Bulgaria, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Greece, South Africa, and Australia are helping to produce the virtual event. Groups also involved in the organizing effort include the European Pride Organisers Association, InterPride, US Association of Prides, OLA Orgullo Latinoamerica, CSD Deutschland, Svenska Pride, and UK Pride Organisers Network. See a complete list of volunteers at globalpride2020.org/team/.
NYC Pride, the local group that organizes the annual LGBTQ Pride March and related events and is hosting, among other events, a virtual Pride celebration on June 28, to be telecast on ABC 7, will be participating in the global event the year before.
A specific schedule of events is not yet available; those details will be released on the week of June 20, according to organizers. The virtual Global Pride program will be streamed on YouTube and at globalpride2020.org.
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