ROCHESTER, N.Y. — With Pride Month in full gear, groups are relying on this month to raise awareness of their mission and funds to support their efforts. Several vendors, performers and groups gathered to raise funds to support social justice causes and give back to community-led organizations
Pride Month originated in 1999, when President Bill Clinton declared through federal proclamation that every June in America will be recognized as “Gay and Lesbian Pride Month.”
Since then, brands have amplified messaging in products and campaigns as a way to celebrate the community’s ongoing advancements toward equality, protections and inclusion.
“We have stickers, buttons, cards,” Blessy the Messy owner Jess Bird said. “I always just want people to feel like they have things to express themselves and be who they are authentically and openly.”
Businesses like West Elm have had a longTChey are contributing more than $650,000 in funds to support roughly 7,000 LGBTQ+ youth in crisis.
“Queer people exist and have always existed,” Bird said. “The more visible we are, the more we can feel safe in our communities.”
Seeing the impact they have had, they are continuing to celebrate Pride Month, partnering with several queer vendors to raise funds nationally and even give back locally to groups like the MOCHA Center of Rochester.
“Everybody on my team are all LGBTQ individuals, so we all know firsthand what may be some of the more negative sides of that experience in the health care sphere,” community health specialist JP Amezquita said. “We want to make sure they are getting everything they need.”
The MOCHA Center of Rochester shares that they are much more than a clinic. meeting its clients in a healing and affirming environment where you will feel supported, cared for and cared about.
Many LGTBQ+ individuals have faced hardships not only within a clinical environment but also a personal one.
“I did not have a very supportive route,” Bird said. “I came out a little later in life and I had two kids and I definitely had to have a full upheaval. But my community and my chosen family were huge in shaping me moving forward and feeling like I would be OK.”
Organizers showing their support through resources, stickers, art and even drag.
“Obviously blue for no reason,” drag performer Carmen Adore said. “I got this dress from my lovely sister, Mrs. Kasha Davis, the local drag celebrity. And I just wanted to be fun and loud and cute.”
“The theme is vintage 80s,” drag performer Chintz McMahon said. “These shorts I made myself and why this whole thing. This is my medallion for Mr. Roar 2024.”
Apart from entertainment, drag performers often use their art and visuality to challenge gender stereotypes, blur the lines between genders and address social issues.
“Drag is such an important community-based art form,” McMahon said. “So much of it is based on mutual support and collaboration.”
Organizers hope to drive visibility and continue to make an impact towards equality and inclusion not only during pride month but year-round.
“It’s all about having fun,” Adore said. “It’s all about just being yourself fully and passing that joy, passing that energy onto others to make this a better place to live in.”
