NYC Black Pride, which hosts an annual five-day slate of multicultural events catering to the Black and Latino LGBTQ community, will reduce its programming this year in the face of significant budgetary restraints largely due to dried-up sponsorship revenue.
“It’s going to be quite different,” Lee Soulja Simmons, who leads NYC Black Pride and serves as the executive director of the NYC Center for Black Pride, said in an interview with Gay City News. “There are a lot of budget restraints happening because of the [Trump] administration’s programs and funding cuts. A lot of the impact has trickled down to our organization.”
NYC Black Pride, held in mid-August, is moving forward with this year’s festivities with roughly half the usual budget, according to Simmons, who said that will be “reflected in what we’re offering this year.”
The cuts reflect the broader financial strain on Pride events nationwide in the second Trump era. New York City Pride reported a $750,000 budget shortfall for this year after sponsors scaled back their support ahead of June’s march, leading to a reduction in events compared to previous years.
“It’s impacting us because the majority of community-based organizations are feeling the hits, too,” Simmons explained. “They are saying, ‘We normally give so much money to Black Pride to help out on the event, but this year we can’t do that number.’” In just one example, Simmons said the loss of federal National Institutes of Health funding has negatively impacted some of the sponsors.
Now in its 28th year, NYC Black Pride’s official events take place Aug. 13-17, but some additional events are scheduled in the days leading up to the formal beginning of NYC Black Pride. The events are being held in both Westchester County and New York City.
The pre-NYC Black Pride events, Simmons said, are being held in partnership with a collaborative ballroom exhibition across the city called Legendary Looks.
The early events kick off on Aug. 10 at Pioneer Works at 159 Pioneer St. in Brooklyn. “MY BALLROOM LIFE: Felix Rodriguez” will be held at noon, followed by a mini ball at the same location from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
On Monday, Aug. 11, festivities move to Arts Westchester Gallery at 31 Mamaroneck Avenue in White Plains, where there will be an afternoon event called The Art of Effects Design in House and Ballroom.
The final early event, Preserving Our Legacy, will be held the following day, Aug. 12, at City Lore at 56 East 1st St. Simmons said the event will feature two authors who will present their new books, though more details are expected to follow.
The main slate of events will begin with NYC Black Pride’s annual Health as a Human Right conference on Aug. 13 at the LGBT Community Center at 208 W. 13th Street. This year’s conference theme is “She Matters,” and discussions will surround health issues for both cisgender and transgender women, Simmons said.
On Thursday, Aug. 14, folks will gather for the fourth annual Mr. and Miss Black Pride International Pageant at Helen Miss Theater at 137 W. 26th St. at 5 p.m. Registration opens at 2 p.m., followed by interviews at 3 p.m. The entry fee is $100 and the deadline to enter is Aug. 7. For information, contact Jose Disla at 646-284-4096 or visit nycblackpride.org.
While NYC Black Pride has a tradition of hosting a beach day event — usually in Coney Island — this year will instead feature a block party, though complete details on that event are not yet available. There is a chance, however, that a beach event still may happen, according to Simmons.
Simmons said the Heritage Awards ceremony and the Heritage Ball are the most notable events missing from this year’s calendar.
Simmons is hopeful that funding will be restored in the future, but expressed concern about the broader consequences of the funding cuts — not just on NYC Black Pride, but also on the delivery of services for community members.
“It’s unfortunate that we had this whole agenda here in New York State of ending the epidemic, and just the thought of all these cuts that are impacting HIV/AIDS programs is really sad,” Simmons said. “Because it’s no secret that people of color are carrying the burden of new infections and things that are happening, and if we want to increase PrEP use, the funds need to be there. It really scares me — are we looking to reignite the epidemic again?”
Simmons said the health conference will cover the looming cuts to Medicaid stemming from the tax and spending legislation approved by Congress and signed by President Trump earlier this month.
As NYC Black Pride approaches its 30-year anniversary in two years, Simmons said the event has evolved from a “very soft agenda” that originally consisted of a party and a couple meet-and-greet events. Soon enough, it grew to include a beach event and other festivities.
“We have definitely grown is what is offered,” Simmons said. “We don’t have staff — a lot of it is volunteers — but we do our best to get everything we need through funding or partnerships with other community-based organizations.”
Nowadays, the work of NYC Black Pride goes far beyond the slate of events in August.
“In the last 15-16 years that I’ve been running Black Pride, it’s not just Pride weekend,” Simmons said. NYC Black Pride partners with community organizations for events like World AIDS Day, Trans Day of Visibility, and AIDS Walk.\
“Black Pride has come a long way from being this once-a-year event,” Simmons said. “Now it’s a whole calendar.”
