A Day of Pride, Defiance, and Pageantry on Friday
PHOTO ESSAY BY DONNA ACETO | Friday, June 22 saw three major events on the eve of Pride Weekend in Manhattan. In the afternoon, transgender and gender non-conforming New Yorkers and their allies gathered at the Hudson River piers for Trans Day of Action for Social and Economic Justice. Later, the annual Pride Rally took place […]
Dick Leitsch, Pre-Stonewall Gay Activist, Has Died
BY ANDY HUMM | Dick Leitsch, who was president of the gay rights Mattachine Society of New York at the time of the Stonewall Rebellion in 1969 and provided an essential on-the-scene report for Mattachine’s newsletter, died on June 22. His death followed a year-long battle with multiple melanoma that was first diagnosed in his […]
Javier Muñoz’s Proud Night at Gracie Mansion
PHOTO ESSAY BY DONNA ACETO | Even with Mayor Bill de Blasio a no-show at his annual Pride Celebration at Gracie Mansion — the crisis precipitated by President Donald Trump at the southern border took him to Texas — the June 21 event remained festive, with First Lady Chirlane McCray stepping up to host. A highlight […]
The Face of Pride is the Future
BY PAUL SCHINDLER | Ja’asriel Bishop is a 22-year-old who came to New York from Guyana in 2016. Describing himself as “gender non-conforming or fluid,” he explained he saw no future for himself in his homeland. “Being sexually fluid and identifying as non-binary, people there don’t really know what you are,” Bishop told Gay City News this […]
This Coming Pride Sunday & Fourth of July
BY PAUL SCHINDLER | Infants and children detained indefinitely, whether in cages or not. On Pride Sunday & Fourth of July, remember: The world will demand to know what we were doing while this was going on.
A Not So Gay Passage to India
BY PERRY BRASS | India had always been a distant dream of mine, starting decades ago when I met George Michell, an authority on Indian temples who encouraged me to make the trip. I never did. Not only was it far away, but hazardous, with everything from “Delhi belly” to malaria lurking there. Finally, at 70, […]
Abel Cedeno Denied Protection Order
BY ANDY HUMM | Abel Cedeno, the bullied Bronx gay teen charged with manslaughter in last September’s fatal stabbing of classmate Matthew McCree, is back in court on June 25. Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark is vigorously prosecuting him, but she is also responsible for prosecuting Kevon Dennis, McCree’s brother, who with co-defendant Jonathan Espinal is […]
The LGBTQ Community’s Betsy Ross
BY MICHAEL LUONGO | June is the season of the rainbow, and now there’s a new book helpichildren better understand how this symbol became part of the LGBTQ civil rights movement. “Sewing the Rainbow,” written by Gayle Pitman, PhD, and illustrated by Holly Clifton-Brown, honors iconic Rainbow Flag creator Gilbert Baker who died early last […]
AIDS’ Political Lessons
BY GARY M. KRAMER | It has been 33 years since the initial release of “Buddies,” the first feature film to depict AIDS. On June 22, the Quad Cinema is giving moviegoers a week-long opportunity to see a new 2K restoration of this classic of independent queer cinema. The film was written and directed by […]
HOP Hosts Its Debut Human Rights Conference
BY MICHAEL LUONGO | Heritage of Pride, the organization behind New York’s annual LGBTQ Pride Parade, hosted its first ever human rights conference on June 14. According to Eboni Munn, HOP’s communications manager, somewhere between 250 and 300 people participated in the daylong conference. Munn and others with HOP said the event was in some respects […]
