Hotter Than July and Motor City Pride

by Lucy Hough

DETROIT –
Hotter Than July experienced its crystal anniversary this past week, with the Black Pride Society having hosted 15 years of Pride events for black, gay Detroiters and out-of-towners alike. What started as only three days of events has become a full week of festivals, marches, workshops and even a film festival. Likewise, a handful of organizers has turned into a collaborative effort between the Black Pride Society, Kick, S.P.I.C.E. and the Hot Boyz.
This year, the week-long celebration of black gay Pride even sold out Detroit's St. Regis hotel, showing that Hotter Than July is certainly an important event for the LGBT community in Detroit.
But when Detroit City Council budget cuts came close to causing the cancelation of HTJ's core events in Palmer Park due to anticipated park closures, a big question arose: Why hold two metro Detroit Prides? Why not combine HTJ with its Ferndale counterpart, Motor City Pride?
The two are separated primarily by race: HTJ historically caters more to black and minority audiences and Motor City Pride, by some estimations, to white audiences – though attendees will see races and ethnicities across the spectrum at either event.
John Wohl of the local gay social group Black and White Men Together said during HTJ's Palmer Park Festival on July 24 that he has seen this line blurring quite a bit over the years, but understands the need to have two separate Prides.
"I think there's been a necessity to have (two) because for years, a lot of people in the LGBT community – particularly in the black community – didn't feel like they had a seat with everybody else, and for good reason," he said. "I think that there's always a certain amount politics that play out and hopefully over the years that will diminish."
Though Wohl believes the Prides will combine eventually, he feels the presence of both is beneficial to everyone who attends.
"I think that having something specifically in our community right now and maybe for a number of years that's a specific Pride event for people of color is a very enriching thing for all of us. And I think it's something we should all embrace," Wohl said. "We're lucky in this region to have more than one Pride."
Indeed, a look at organizational presence at either event will find Detroit Latin@z, Black and White Men Together, S.P.I.C.E and other race and ethnicity-based gay groups. And at Motor City Pride, primarily white folk singers face off for an audience with dance troupes made up of black gay youth.
Hank Millbourne, treasurer of the Black Pride Society, has been a part of the group for nine years and is a former president. He agreed that HTJ is especially important for the black community to have a sense of identity within the greater LGBT community.
"I think we need an event that celebrates who we are and celebrates all of us, our total identity, not just our sexual orientation but who we are racially and culturally as a people," Millbourne said. "Hotter Than July attempts to do that, to combine our multiple identities and to celebrate them as one whole person."
Robert Clark, current president of the Black Pride Society, said that there is definitely still a call within the black community for a separate Pride event, especially because the needs of black LGBT people are unique.
"We do not feel that we can remain as effective in some sort of a yearly combination pride," Clark said.
Clark believes that the presence of such organizations as the Black Pride Society and the events it hosts like Hotter Than July are important to provide resources to the people it specifically caters to throughout the year.
"I am passionate about the Black Pride Society board of directors because I know what we have the potential to be," Clark said. "We have the potential to be more than a yearly Pride planning committee; we can return to the social education tool we once were as well as a resource for health and wellness support."
Clark said he has had talks with Alicia Skillman from Equality Michigan about a combination event in the future that will market to all audiences, but he expects that to be separate from Hotter Than July.