With summer on its way, the days are getting longer, the sun is hotter, and the gays are out and very, very proud. Whether you’re a part of the LGBTQ+ community or an ally, Pride has arrived and you better be ready to celebrate!
As the most recent installation of our 20 lists of 20 things, here are 20 ways to celebrate Pride this June (but also all year–the queer community isn’t going anywhere)!
1. Go to Pride! For our local fur-ends, Denver Pride is June 22-23. Find a Pride event wherever you are on the US Pride Calendar.
2. Go to a drag show! Whether with family or friends, seeing a drag show is always a good time and a great way to support local drag artists, kings and queens!
3. Run in the Denver Pride 5K.
4. Get some popcorn, sit back and enjoy some queer cinema. Starter list: But I’m a Cheerleader, Moonlight, Bottoms, Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
5. Share your pronouns! Although there’s still a lot of work to do for LGBTQ+ people to be protected and safe, sharing your pronouns is a small thing that anyone can do to ensure people use the right pronouns and normalize the discussion of pronouns in the first place.
6. Donate. If you can, there are so many wonderful non-profit organizations that seek to help and protect LGBTQ+ people. Start with this list of LGBTQ organizations.
7. Educate yourself on queer history. Pride has evolved so much since Stonewall. It is important to know and understand the history and who fought to get the community to where it is today. Education is the beginning of allyship and understanding.
8. Listen to some gay pop! Gay pop is the sound of the summer. I mean, Reneé Rapp, Chappell Roan, JoJo Siwa—the list goes on.
9. Know where your money’s going. Allyship is not supporting rainbow capitalism or patronizing businesses that exploit the LGBTQ+ community for profit. Shop local, shop small, shop queer-friendly, and definitely shop queer.
10. Check out some queer Denver neighborhoods like the RiNo Art District (one of the Top Five Emerging Gay Neighborhoods of America) and the historically queer Capitol Hill.
11. Support Denver’s bid to host the 2030 Gay Games! The city’s already secured a spot among the top 10 contenders, and Denver’s bid committee is campaigning hard to make the games “a platform not just for athletic prowess but also for unity, empowerment, and individual potential, all set against the backdrop of the city’s breathtaking scenery and world-class facilities.”
12. Go to a farmer’s market! I mean, what’s gayer than supporting local businesses and going to a farmer’s market?
13. Dabble in some queer literature. From Love Makes a Family, to The Song of Achilles, to Carmilla— there are so many queer stories that there is no excuse not to read rainbow this summer.
14. Get fancy at Avon, Colorado’s Mountain Pride Gayla!
15. Send your LGBTQ+ friends some money for being so cool! Signed, a queer college student.
16. Get some pride prints! Shameless self-plug—if you’re looking to rainbow up your printing game, YellowDog’s got you covered!
17. Volunteer (or should I say volun-queer?). Volunteering offers a unique opportunity to show support and advocate for equality and acceptance in all communities. Gay for Good has chapters all over the USA that mobilize LGBTQ+ and ally volunteers to help around their community and make a difference!
18. Hang out with queer folk! Pride is all about building community. The Center on Colfax hosts groups, lounges, board game nights and more opportunities to meet new people, chat and make safe spaces for queer people!
19. SAY GAY! AND LESBAIN! AND TRANS! AND NON-BINARY! In the past few years, we have seen an influx in anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in the United States. These bills directly attack LGBTQ+ people, especially trans-POC youth. The LGBTQ+ community has been and continues to be silenced by law, but we won’t be erased—we will be heard.
20. Love yourself! Because if you don’t, in the wise words of RuPaul, “how in the hell you gonna love somebody else?!”
by YellowDog.