Bike parade, drag brunch, more: Celebrate LGBTQ Pride Month with these Coast events
LGBTQ Pride is back on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
After COVID-19 canceled a number of annual Pride events last year, festivals, brunches and a bike ride are back on the calendar for June 2021.
Pride began in 1970 as a way to commemorate a rebellion that changed the course of LGBTQ activism in the United States.
On June 28, 1969, plainclothes police officers raided one of the most popular gay bars in New York City, the Stonewall Inn, with a warrant authorizing the investigation of illegal alcohol sales.
Police interrogated patrons and employees, and all “cross-dressers” were ordered detained. At the time, New York and other states had vague “masquerade laws” that police often used to arrest trans people and people dressing in drag.
But that night, patrons at the Stonewall Inn, frustrated by routine police harassment of LGBTQ people and spaces, resisted. According to one account, as police tried to force patrons into cop cars, people began throwing cans, rocks, trash cans and even a parking meter.
“Vengeance vented against the source of repression— gay bars, busts, kids victimized and exploited by the mafia and the cops,” wrote an unidentified reporter in an underground publication called The Rat Subterranean News.
Over the next week, thousands of LGBTQ people and supporters demonstrated throughout New York City.
The next year, activists commemorated the event with the country’s first gay pride march and week.
“Many new activists consider the Stonewall Uprising the birth of the gay liberation movement,” one historian wrote in 1972. “Certainly it was the birth of gay pride of a massive scale.”
It took a while longer for Pride to arrive on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. A 1993 Pride March in Ocean Springs, reportedly the first such event in Mississippi, was greeted with protesters and heavy police presence as it wound through downtown.
Pride Day, hosted by the Mississippi Gulf Coast Association of Pride, was held in Biloxi for the first time in 2017.
Here’s a lineup of Pride events on the Coast this year.
June 12: Ocean Springs Pride Ride
The third annual event starts at 5 p.m. with bike decorating in Marshall Park, sponsored by Friends of the Arts, Culture and Education (FACE). The Pride Ride leaves from City Hall at 6:30 p.m.
When: Bike decorating starts at 5 p.m. and the ride starts at 6:30 p.m.
Where: Bike decorating is at Marshall Park (1001 Washington Ave, Ocean Springs) and the ride leaves from City Hall (1018 Porter Ave, Ocean Springs)
For more information: See the Facebook event
June 15: Pride Day Guest Speaker at Keesler
Brig. Gen. Brenda Cartier, Vice Commander, 19th Air Force, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, will give a speech for the Keesler community.
When: Speech at 9:30 a.m., discussion panel at 10:45 a.m. June 15
Where: Bay Breeze Event Center, Keesler Air Force Base
Public access to Keesler Air Force Base is limited.
June 20: Pride Drag Brunch
The Gulf Coast Equality Council and The Chapel at Centennial Plaza present Pride Drag Brunch. The brunch is hosted by Lexis Redd D’Ville and stars Catastrophe Nicole Knight, Brooklyn Steele, Jackie Paris Vanity, Latonia Love, and Arik Cavalli. Music by DJ “Dolla” Bill.
Tickets are $45 in advance or $50 at the door.
When: Doors open at 12 p.m., show starts at 1 p.m., Sunday, June 20
Where: Centennial Plaza, 200 East Beach Blvd., Gulfport
For more information: See the Facebook event.
June 25: LGBTQ Information Expo at Keesler
Keesler Air Force Base hosts this event as part of their Pride Month programming.
When: 11 a.m. June 25
Where: Robert’s Maintenance Facility
Public access to the Keesler Air Force Base is limited.
June 25: Gay Pride Kickoff Party at SIPPS
Drag performances, specials and giveaways all night at SIPPS for those ages 18 and up. There is a $10 cover.
When: Show starts at 11 p.m. June 25
Where: SIPPS Bar, 2218 25th Ave., Gulfport
June 26: Pride Day
The group that organized the Mississippi Gulf Coast’s first Pride Day celebration in 2017 returns in 2021 after a hiatus due to COVID-19 in 2020. The Gulf Coast Association of Pride hosts Pride Day on Biloxi’s Point Cadet on June 26.
When: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. June 26
Where: Point Cadet Plaza, 121 Cadet St., Biloxi
For more information: https://gcpride.org/
Events later this year
- July 16-18: Unapologetic LGBTQ+ Pride in Hattiesburg (See their Facebook page)
- Oct. 4-10: Pine Belt Pride in Hattiesburg (See their Facebook page)
Did we miss an event? Email itaft@sunherald.com to add an event to the list.
This story was originally published June 11, 2021 at 5:50 AM.
