Your Guide to This Year's Hotter Than July — the World's Second-Oldest Black LGBTQ+ Pride

How you can be a part of LGBT Detroit's 30th anniversary

HTJ — Attendees at a past Hotter Than July event. Photo: BTL archives

Jason Collins

Published: July 18, 2024 | Last Updated: July 31, 2024

Hotter Than July, LGBT Detroit’s annual Black Pride event, is right around the corner. Get ready for a whole weekend of events that celebrate Detroit’s LGBTQ+ community while offering a safe space for showcasing its culture.

The celebration, which started in 1995, now holds the title of the world's second-oldest Black LGBTQ+ Pride. But this year is extra special for the organization as it celebrates its 30th anniversary with the release of the documentary “30 Years of LGBT Detroit: A Documentary Preserving Three Decades.”

Other key events include the annual candlelight vigil, the annual "family reunion" and a concert experience featuring Grammy-nominated artist B.Slade. Learn more about all the Hotter Than July events at lgbtdetroit.org.

Friday, July 26: A Candlelight Vigil

6:30 p.m., The Wright Museum (315 E. Warren St., Detroit)

Hotter Than July begins as a remembrance with a candlelight vigil honoring both the ancestors and spirit of the community. LGBT Detroit Director A. Nzere Kwabena reveals that, this year, attendees are invited to submit the name of someone they want to honor. “We’ll make sure we provide a moment where we’ll honor that person at the vigil," he tells Pride Source.

This free event will be hosted in the Latimer Cafe Courtyard, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Friday, July 26: '30 Years of LGBT Detroit' Documentary Screening and Q&A

7:30 p.m., The Wright Museum (315 E. Warren St., Detroit)

After the candlelight vigil, stick around for the screening of “30 Years of LGBT Detroit: A Documentary Preserving Three Decades.” The film, directed by LGBT Detroit’s Broadcast Manager Chris Inpaq Sutton, captures the vast experiences of the LGBTQ+ community as it continues to thrive within Detroit. Sutton told Pride Source earlier this year, “If there's one thing that I would want audiences to walk away with after viewing the '30 Years of LGBT Detroit' documentary, it is the collective power we have when we unite together as a community.”

Food and refreshments will be served to those watching the documentary, which will be shown at 9 p.m., followed by a panel discussion.

Friday, July 26: SPICE Reunion: Celebrating Sisterhood Across Generations

6 p.m., Kofi House: The Center for Lesbians and Girls (135 Hazelwood St., Highland Park)

Local LGBTQ+ group Sistah’s Providing Intelligence, Creativity and Empowerment (S.P.I.C.E.) will host a reunion on Friday evening. Andrea Davis, program director for S.P.I.C.E, reveals that the group was created as a “grassroots group for lesbians to gather to discuss things that are important to their lives, for identification purposes and support.”

Terri Leverette from S.P.I.C.E reveals that for her this reunion is all about celebrating the “recognition, visibility and durability of what S.P.I.C.E provided for over 20 years.” For Leverette, S.P.I.C.E fosters engagement and meets the needs of the local community.

Entrance to the free event starts at 6 p.m.

Saturday, July 27: The People of African Descent Conference and Family Reunion

12 p.m., Zion Lutheran Church (143 Albany St., Ferndale)

The Zion Lutheran Church, along with Rev. Roland Stringfellow and Elder Hattie Alexander-Key, will host this groundbreaking conference on Black queer spirituality. The conference, in partnership with the Metropolitan Community Church’s People of African Descent (PAD), will focus on topics like healing from Black queer trauma, the importance of LGBTQ-affirming churches and looking to the future. Senior pastor at MCC-Detroit, Rev. Dr. Roland Stringfellow, told Pride Source, the event "encourages people with the African diaspora around the intersection of spirituality and their identity.”

Rev. Stringfellow says the conference will seek to “break down the stigma that African American people of faith do not support the LGBTQ+ community,” adding that he hopes the event can build a bridge between the queer community and the Black church.

Saturday, July 27: The Bishop Yvette Flunder Birthday Dinner

7 p.m., Affirmations Community Center (290 W. 9 Mile Road, Ferndale)

Spend Saturday evening celebrating the birthday of Bishop Yvette Flunder, who is a special guest for the weekend. Bishop Yvette has been involved in the church and active in the community for over 20 years, including, at one point, leading her own transgender choir. For decades, Bishop Yvette has been challenging the stigma of homophobia and HIV and serving as an advocate for Black lesbians. Rev. Jeffrey Seals from One Church Detroit said that bringing Bishop Yvette to Hotter Than July is “a dream come true.”

Dinner will include a Jamaican potluck and soulful vegan favorites.

Saturday, July 27: Kink Museum

10 p.m., The Eagle at Menjo’s (950 W. McNichols Road)

End your Saturday with the ONYX Great Lakes Kink Museum event. Kwabena says the ONYX exhibit “provides education around the kink and fetish community.” This exciting event promises an exhilarating evening of demos, discussion panels, playing and dancing. Be sure to don your favorite outfit according to the kink dress code, bring your own equipment and have fun in a safe and judgment-free zone.

Xanatos ONYX, the ONYX Great Lakes Secretary, told Pride Source that the event provides a safe and welcoming environment for kinksters and members of the leather community to celebrate. "Honoring the ONYX mission to educate, empower and explore, Kink Museum offers demonstrations of various kinks and fetishes, as well as the opportunity to socialize with other members of the leather and kink community in a party atmosphere," Xanatos said.

Organizers expect over 100 attendees from Southeast Michigan and across the country at the Kink Museum event, the signature annual event for ONYX Great Lakes, which Xanatos said was founded in 2016 to promote education and empowerment of people of color men in the leather and kink communities of Michigan, Ohio, Northern Kentucky, Western Pennsylvania and Ontario. Xanatos invites the community to apply for membership in ONYX Great Lakes, which is open to all races and gender expressions.

The event runs from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Sunday, July 28: The Hotter Than July Worship Service

12 p.m., Tindell Activities Center (10301 W. 7 Mile Road)

Dress in your finest white outfit and enjoy an evening of dance and praise at One Church Detroit’s worship service. Rev. Jeffrey Seals explains that One Church Detroit offers a safe space for Black queer people to worship “in the fullness of who we are.” Rev. Seals tells Pride Source, “Pride to me is a movement about people becoming who we are and having that faith [and] spiritually is an added bonus.”

The free worship service starts at 12 p.m. with a dinner afterward.