June is Gay Pride Month across the nation. Albany's observance kicked off this morning at City Hall.
The LGBTQ community, along with their allies, are celebrating events throughout the month, designed to raise the community’s visibility, and acknowledge the strides that have been made. Albany County Executive Dan McCoy embraces the "we all are one" concept. "We're a big family here and everyone's together, one way or another. But we also have to stay vigilant, and these things are important because I think of what happened at the Damien Center with the burning of the flag. I think about other things that have happened across this country. We have to raise tolerance and have people understand it's OK to be different."
This year for the first time, In Our Own Voicesand the Pride Center have coordinated their two respective Pride festivals on the same weekend, June 10th and 11th, in conjunction with the Equality March for Unity and Pride June 11th in Washington and across the country.
"I'm proud of the fact that we're gonna be hosting a rally in this city in solidarity with what's happening in Washington." Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan told the gathering that this is a moment of great pride for the city, a place of diversity. "We're gonna be doing a rally with respect to ensuring that the LGBTQ community is represented not just here in the city of Albany, not just in the state of New York, which has strong rights, but that we have to insist that across this country, that we say to everyone that we love you, no matter who you love."
New York State Assemblywoman Pat Fahy, a fellow Albany Democrat, worries the nation has regressed a little in the last year. She sees pride month as part of multi-culturalism. "Multiple cultures, multiple flags, are what have built this country, what have made us as strong a country, and I think we've forgotten a number of lessons from history. Recent history as well as longer history and what has built this country. So, I think it is, it's important for not just the LGBTQ community, it's important for all communities that we remind ourselves what is our strength, and that we need to take pride in general in the community and find acceptance among all of our selves as we try to counteract so much of the negativity that we are seeing at the national level."
Albany Gay Pride Month festivities began at 5 - the Washington Park Lakehouse the scene of the Pride Kickoff Picnic - free food, soft drinks, music and fun and an opportunity to meet citizens in the LGBTQ community.
- GLSEN Gala
- Thursday, June 8 at 5:30PM at the Renaissance Albany Hotel
- Alternative Prom
- Friday, June 9 from 7-11PM at the SUNY Albany Ballroom
- Pride 5K
- Saturday, June 10 from 8-11AM at the Corning Preserve Boat Launch
Saturday June 10th from Noon to 5 PM at Washington Park, Albany
In Our Own Voices presents Say It Loud! Black & Latino Gay Pride
A truly unique event for our region, Say It Loud! is an opportunity for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people of color (POC) communities to come together and celebrate the strong and vibrant LGBT POC community in Upstate New York. Over the course of 10 days, In Our Own Voices presents several cornerstone events to highlight and lift up the members of the LGBT POC community while promoting health, wellness, and transformative self-empowerment.
Sunday June 11th from Noon to 5 PM at Washington Park, Albany
Pride Center of the Capital Region presents Capital PRIDE Parade and Festival
For nearly five decades, the Pride Center of the Capital Region has produced the annual Capital PRIDE Festival, celebrating all lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people throughout the region. Starting with the annual parade down Lark Street and leading to Washington Park for the festival, this event showcases the rich history and identity of the LGBTQ movement in the Capital Region.
