The LGBT Community’s guide to the best things to do in NYC, including local LGBT events, drag shows, parties, cultural attractions, talks & lectures, free activities and more. This week, celebrate Pride at the Whitney, get geared up for the fetishy Folsom East, and bring the family down to the Christopher Street Pier for a free movie: Beauty and the Beast!
Celebrate Pride at the Whitney
Friday, June 15
Friday, June 15
Pride at the Whitney, a celebration of Pride and the LGBTQ community featuring a special performance by artist NIC Kay, will take place on Friday, June 15th from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. at the Whitney Museum of American Art, located at 99 Gansevoort Street (between Washington Street and West Street) in Manhattan.
NIC Kay will present about love, a performance that considers RuPaul’s well-known question that asks how people can love others if they don’t love themselves. about love is part of a larger series of performances that examine wellness and hope. Hosted in collaboration with Discwoman, the New York-based platform and booking agency that represents and promotes women, trans, and gender-non-confirming artists in the Electronic Dance Music (EDM) scene, Pride at the Whitney also will feature a DJ set that’s inspired by the Meatpacking District’s rich queer history and current exhibitions that are on display at the Whitney including An Incomplete History of Protest: Selections from the Whitney’s Collection, 1940-2017 and Zoe Leonard: Survey.
Pride at the Whitney is part of the Whitney Museum of American Art’s year-round community programming that reinforces the Museum’s commitment to serve a wide variety of audiences in celebration of the complexity and diversity of art and culture, as well as supporting artists themselves.
Fierce Fridays! Strike A Pose
Friday, June 15
This weekend marks Bronx Pride, where revelers invited to join a collaboration with Fierce NYC, the Kiki Coalition, artist Ivan Velez and dancers from the LGBTQ ballroom in the Bronx for a night of social justice, vogue-inspired performances, and a late-night Mr. Papo’s Drink and Draw at the Bronx Museum. From 7:00 pm-8:00 pm there will be a moderated panel of social justice issues, followed by a night of LGBTQ Ballroom House culture featuring Grandfather Hector Xtravaganza, Luna Khan, Slim Ninja, Gia Love and Mr. Papo’s Futurisma Drink-N-Draw.
Folsom Street East
Sunday, June 17
Folsom Street East is the largest outdoor LGBTQ and Allied Kin-Fetish festival east of the Mississippi, and since 1997 the festival has been a major highlight in the New York city LGBTQ calendar. Folsom Street East Festival celebrates and inspires participation and pride through the creation of safe spaces for public expression of sexual identities. This year there will be several events and performances by Bollywood ken, Corey Tut, Crimson Kitty, Fem Appeal, Kareem Mcjagger and several more! Ticket proceeds from 2018’s festival will go towards the New York City Anti-Violence Project, Transcend Legal and Trinity Place Shelter. Ticket pricing is as follows, General Admission is $20, General Admission and a T-shirt is $40, and VIP admission is $75. VIP pricing gets you and a guest admission to Folsom Street East’s VIP Party Saturday June 9th, 2018 and exclusive swag. General admission is available at the gate throughout the day at all entrances. The event takes place on West 27th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues.
Broadway Sings for Pride presents REVOLUTION: 8th Annual Pride Charity Concert
Monday,June 18
On Monday, the theater world and New York communities will come together for Revolution! Broadway Sings for Pride will premiere their 8th anniversary benefit concert at The Cutting Room in Manhattan. This event will be filled with singing (from pop to Broadway), stories, and surprises! The proceeds will benefit The Tyler Clementi Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to end online and offline bullying.
Revolution will be hosted by real-life couple Anthony Bowens (pro wrestler, Outsports, People.com) and Michael Pavano (actor and model), the event will start at 7:30pm at The Cutting Room (44 E 32nd St, New York). A variety of performers and speakers scheduled to appear.
LGBTQ Family Movie Night
June 19
Be our guest at this year’s free fairytale Family Movie Night at the Christopher St. Pier with a special showing of Beauty and the Beast, hosted by Miss Richfield 1981! Join one of the only free events for LGBTQIA+ families during pride week for a night of dancing, singing along to the music, and kid-friendly games in collaboration with Camp Highlight. General admission is completely free, however there are two special viewing spaces available such as the Village pass and Castle Pass.
Village Pass viewing gets a reserved blanket, pillows, early entry, gift bags with snacks, and complimentary water and soda. The Castle pass includes reserved outdoor living room area, sofas for up to six, gift bags with snacks, and complimentary water or soda.
All proceeds from the magical Family Movie Night go towards Heritage of Pride and other LGBTQIA+ organizations. Doors open at 6:30 pm, with the movie showing promptly at 8:00pm.
The Boys in the Band
Ongoing
It may have taken The Boys in the Band a half century to find a home on Broadway, but Matt Crowley’s now-vintage look at gay life in the late ’60s couldn’t have arrived in more style. With a cast that features Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory), Zachary Quinto (the big screen “Star Trek” reboot and “American Horror Story), Matt Bomer (the Magic Mike series) and Andrew Rannells (Girls and The New Normal), this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see a cast of all-stars explore what life was like before Harvey Milk, before Stonewall — when being gay was still considered a mental disorder. At the helm of this production: none other than Glee and American Horror Story imagineer Ryan Murphy.
The Donna Summer Musical
Ongoing
Where were you the first time you heard “I Feel Love?” In the world of Hot 100 radio, that track cut through everything around it — the arena rock of Fleetwood Mac and Bruce Springsteen, the disco of the Commodores and Jacksons — all of it. For those who were there, it sounded like a transmission from another galaxy.
But Donna Summer began her career in the musical “Hair,” becoming best known for refusing to take off her clothes in the show’s much-ballyhooed nude scene. She was a girl from Boston with a voice from heaven, who shot through the stars from gospel choir to dance floor diva. But what the world didn’t know was how Donna Summer risked it all to break through barriers, becoming one of the signature voices of an era and the inspiration for many who followed in her path.
Tony Award winner LaChanze (The Color Purple), Ariana DeBose (Hamilton, A Bronx Tale) and newcomer Storm Lever play the many facets of Donna Summer, taking audiences through her tumultuous life, tempestuous loves and mega-watt musical hits. From “Love to Love You, Baby” to “Last Dance” and beyond, her story and her music pair for a night of memories — or discovery. It’s The Donna Summer Musical.
Angels in America
Ongoing
The political themes of Tony Kushner’s 1991 Pulitzer Prize-winning epic, Angels in America, continue to reverberate than a quarter century later. The fantastical two-part drama offers a symbolic and metaphorical examination of the AIDS crisis in the mid-’80s, as characters are visited by ghosts and supernatural beings from beyond. Following a sold-out run in London, this production, Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, lands on Broadway for a limited 18-week engagement under the direction of Tony Award-winner Marianne Elliott (The Curious Incident of the Dog at Midnight, War Horse), with (as in London) Andrew Garfield as abandoned AIDS sufferer Prior Walter and Nathan Lane as closeted Republican Roy Cohn. For the New York run, Lee Pace joins the cast as the conflicted Mormon Joe Pitt. Tickets for Millennium Approaches (Part 1) and Perestroika (Part 2) will be sold in pairs — as either same-day (matinee and evening) or multi-evening performances. The play closes July 1.
The World Premiere of a New Play, Scissoring
Ongoing
In Christina Quintana’s Scissoring, New Orleans native and resident Abigail Bauer must confront the clash between the life she has created with her longterm girlfriend and her career as a devoted teacher in a repressive Catholic school. Through her struggle, Abigail receives pressure from the school’s shape-shifting, personified public address system and guidance from the figures of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Roosevelt’s devoted friend and lover, Lorena Hickok. Performances will begin May 31st for a limited Off-Broadway engagement through June 30th. Opening Night is set for June 11th.
Looking for more? Check out our complete listing of events.
And of course, don’t forget to check out our Pride Guides:
Metrosource’s Big Pride Guide — US and Worldwide.
Metrosource’s Ultimate Guide to NYC Pride 2018
Last modified: June 15, 2018
