SEAGLA has released the schedule for the third annual Juneau Pride, a celebration of all things lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning for the month of June.
Pride commemorates the day, in June of 1969, when police officers conducting a routine shakedown raid on the Stonewall Inn, a bar in Greenwich Village, New York City, were met by a group of fed-up drag queens, transgender people, gay men and lesbians who stood up to them and threw them out of the bar. The civil disobedience action that occurred over the ensuing few days, generally referred to as “the Stonewall Riots,” is widely seen as the genesis of the modern movement for LGBTQ rights.
This year’s festival has been organized by a Pride Committee, spearheaded by SEAGLA, the Southeast Alaska LGBTQ Alliance. In keeping with the goal of providing something for everyone, Juneau Pride will again offer a wide variety of events, including a Pride Prom dance, the signature Pride Picnic now in its 30th year, a kickball game, hike and bonfire, trivia contest and a Saturday night pub crawl. All events are either free or by donation, including the ticketed ones.
Mayor Koelsch is expected to issue a resolution naming June 2016 “Juneau Pride Month” as Mayor Sanford did in 2014 and 2015. Commemorating June as “LGBT Pride Month” is not just a local practice, but has been done annually on the national level by President Obama since 2009 and was first recognized by President Clinton in 2000. Rep. Sam Kito and Rep. Cathy Munoz are scheduled to speak at the 30th Anniversary Pride Picnic at 2:30 p.m.
Former City Manager, Kim Kiefer will be given the “Mildred Boesser Equal Rights Award” at the Opening Ceremony for her 32-year service to the City and Borough of Juneau as an out lesbian and an advocate for LGBTQ equal rights. The award is named for the late Mildred Boesser, stalwart proponent of LGBTQ rights for many decades, who passed in June 2015.
There is going to be the drag show GLITZ!, which sold out the Rockwell ballroom last year, and will be held at Centennial Hall this time round. The star of Ru Paul’s Drag Race season three, India Ferrah and nationally reknowned drag king Landon Cider, will be part of the expanded pre-show VIP reception. New events have been added, including an improv show, “Pinque Pony” featuring an LGBTQ comedy troupe from Chicago, and a reception for Two Spirit Alaska Natives, many of whom will be in town for the biannual event, Celebration (“Two Spirit” is a term that many Native Americans use to identify their sexual orientation or gender identity in context of their Native heritage).
Juneau Pride invites the entire community to “Come Out, Feel Welcomed!” at all of our events. A mix of pre-Pride fundraisers and donations given at each event fund the production of Juneau Pride. Official Juneau Pride 2016 t-shirts will also be on sale to help raise funds to cover costs. This year marks a new collaboration with Aurora Projekt, who printed the shirts in an effort to “look local first” and keep more business in town. Business sponsors of Juneau Pride include KXLL – Excellent Radio, SALT, Suite 907, Bauer Clifton Interiors, The Driftwood Hotel and the Alaska State Improv Festival.
To find out more about the schedule of events, visit juneaupride.org. A downloadable Pride Guide is also available on the website.
