Color and joy were on full display at Motor City Pride 2022 as an estimated 40,000 Pridegoers filled downtown Detroit streets and Hart Plaza to celebrate Michigan's largest Pride parade and festival. Photos by Jason [...]
Have you considered public transit as your ride to Pride this year? Public transit not only offers safety and fun for you and your queer crew, it can also save you money on high-as-ever gas [...]
Dave Wait has always been an activist at heart. In eighth grade, Wait organized a sit-in at school when the cafeteria refused to serve chocolate milk. The group of disgruntled students got hauled down to [...]
Pride Month (or “Queer Christmas” if you prefer) has arrived, and, we’re happy to note, it would be hard to swing a feathered boa and not hit a Pride event somewhere in Michigan this year. [...]
When I was a closeted kid, the only thing I really liked about church was when the priest asked the congregation to shake a neighbor’s hand and wish them peace. Mass at the church my [...]
If you tell Deana Spencer that something she believes in is not possible or unattainable, she will power through, make it happen and disprove you. That’s advice she received once related to her role with [...]
Ferndale has been known as one of Michigan’s biggest queer hubs for decades. With many of the hallmarks that distinguish a Greenwich Village, a Castro, an Andersonville — traits like a walkable downtown, a diverse [...]
It’s that time of year again — and let’s just hope that this summer there's no surge and the only masks we see are feathered and bedazzled. For the first time since 2020, the state’s [...]
Ferndale Pride performer and Detroit-based Reginald Hawkins is living a double life. By day, they’re a college student worrying about a looming lab deadline. By night, they’re becoming a pop and dance music sensation, expressing their [...]
Jason Misleh is not a magician, nor is he a puppeteer. He is, however, an expert in making bodies move. Misleh, better known on the club circuit as DJ Jace M, has 20 years of [...]
If you attended the Motor City Pride parade over the weekend, you no doubt noticed that not only did Gov. Gretchen Whitmer participate, but she also was wearing a very special jacket. On the back [...]
Being at Motor City Pride for many over the weekend was like coming home. After a 15-month wait due to COVID, Michigan's LGBTQ+ community members came out in droves from throughout the state to attend [...]
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who led Sunday’s Motor City Pride parade in Detroit, has been one of Michigan’s biggest LGBTQ+ allies. Along with Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, she officially proclaimed June as Pride Month. That same [...]
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer seemed as delighted and grateful to finally be at Motor City Pride as the LGBTQ+ Michiganders who attended the delayed event, which took place on Sunday in Detroit. The in-person event was [...]
When Jay-Z’s grandmother says “I was served lemons, but I made lemonade” on Beyoncé’s “Lemonade,” she could've been talking about J. Santino, a Detroit-based Motor City Pride headliner. For years, the 23-year-old pop artist has [...]
Never underestimate the power of a hug. It just might save your life. Tyler T. Cooper, best known as Detroit's beautiful, bald and bold drag queen Sabin, knows this all too well. See, Cooper was [...]
After the long COVID months and virtual Pride events, Motor City Pride is finally upon us. But planning this year's event has been, as you can imagine, a bit different than previous years. “More stressful [...]
Pride-inspired products are popping up everywhere these days, with businesses big and small competing for our mighty pink dollars. But how can you tell which are genuinely interested in equality for all or just trying [...]
As cities and states across the country move to reopen in the aftermath of the pandemic, Madonna made it known that New York is back. Madge headlined the Boom X Pride party at The Standard [...]
Michigan’s LGBTQ+ community has come a long way. Marriage is legal and, for the most part, LGBTQ+ people are able to live their lives as their whole selves with full acceptance from friends and family. [...]
Art, fitness… God? Get a taste of all the above when you cap off Pride Month with these events. After all, some introspection, mimosas and a good workout — yes, we’ve got you covered — [...]
The 2020/2021 school year was definitely an unusual one. Zoom school, hybrid school, half-time school, full-time school, alternating schedules. Michigan’s public school districts tried just about everything to keep students engaged while reducing risk during [...]
Rainbows, rainbows everywhere, but not a dime for LGBTQ+ rights. That may be true for the majority of Pride merchandise, but here’s a list of products you can be proud to buy in support of [...]
Sigourney Weaver almost didn’t make it to Michigan to film “Prayers for Bobby.” In fact, the star of “Ghostbusters” and “Alien” didn’t think she could even make time to shoot the TV drama, which has [...]
The Ann Arbor District Library has several events planned in celebration of LGBTQ Pride Month. From virtual kids’ events to teen book talks to a Drag Variety Hour, the month is packed with plenty of [...]
On June 11, I realized a dream come true 33 years in the making when I got to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Detroit Tigers game, part of the celebration of LGBTQ [...]
Finding LGBTQ+ books used to be a challenge. You couldn’t just Google “lesbian romance novels” or “books with trans characters.” But now, luckily, that’s no longer the case. Especially with Pride season in full swing. [...]
The state of Michigan is a mixed bag when it comes to LGBTQ+ equality. Major cities such as Ann Arbor and Detroit and vibrant hubs like Ferndale and Saugatuck are vocal about support for LGBTQ+ [...]
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is really feeling Pride this month. Today, the staunch ally tweeted a selfie in support of LGBTQ+ Pride Month. In the photo, Whitmer is posing on her front porch and a [...]
Raccoons get called many things: nuisance animals, bandits, trash pandas. But one raccoon in University Heights, Ohio made it clear that what they want to be called is “Fabulous.” But without a way to communicate [...]
It's Pride. It's live. And it will be big and splashy, just like every Motor City Pride Festival. So says Dave Wait, chairperson of Motor City Pride. The annual festival and parade was originally slated [...]
Pride During a Pandemic While this is the 19th consecutive year that Ferndale is recognizing June as Pride Month, for a number of reasons it will be quite different from years past. Certainly, the obvious [...]
Even at the best of times, Pride festivals are a reprieve from many of the daily struggles faced by the LGBTQ community. There, acceptance is given freely, and if done right, the celebration allows any [...]
As June draws closer, the LGBTQ community is still anticipating Pride month, but it's clear that novel coronavirus concerns have drastically altered what celebrations are going to look like across the globe. Still, that's not [...]
Click on the arrows to scroll through the gallery. All photos by Jamie Feldman.
Click on the arrows to scroll through the gallery. All photos by Andrew Cohen.
