ABOVE: Global Pride 2020 is a “24-hour virtual Pride entertainment special” that will feature content from LGBTQ+ community members from various parts of the world. (Photo courtesy Twitter)
LGBTQ+ communities across the globe are joining forces to create an online Pride event.
Global Pride 2020 is a 24-hour virtual Pride entertainment special that has been described by its organizers as “potential[ly]…the largest LGBTQIA+ event ever.”
On April 1, the European Pride Organisers Association and InterPride officially launched the Global Pride project and since then “[o]ver 500 Pride and LGBTQIA+ community organizations [have] contributed more than 1,500 films,” according to a press release.
The event will also feature “musical performances, speeches and key messages from human rights activists.” Political leaders who are scheduled to make an appearance include former U.S. Vice President and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Austrian President Alexander van der Bellen and Vladimir Luxuria, the first openly trans person to serve as a member of the European parliament.
Headlined by Todrick Hall, dozens of musicians and entertainers will be performing throughout the 24-hour stream including Rita Ora, Kesha, Urias, Leann Rimes, Big Freedia, Lola McQueen, Sophia Jimémez and Denise Ho with more names still being released.
Ahmed Alaa, a man who was imprisoned in Egypt “after raising a rainbow flag at a concert in Cairo [in] 2017” will be paying tribute to Sarah Hegazi, a lesbian activist and fellow prisoner “who took her own life earlier this month” after struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder.
A number of other contributors to the broadcast live in places that are hostile to LGBTQ+ identity and “people face severe social and legal restrictions” as a result. Such places include “Iraq, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Palestine, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco and Jamaica.”
A creative team consisting of “more than 50 volunteer curators, editors and producers” have collaborated to “review, prepar[e] and edit the content” for the livestreamed special.
Steve Taylor, a board member of the European Pride Organizers Association, said that the collective efforts of the contributing LGBTQ+ community members have allowed for the ambitious vision for Global Pride 2020 to be fully realized.
“‘I remember the first conversation we had about this project, and how so many people thought it would be an impossible task to deliver, especially in less than three months,’” he said. “‘But yet again the grit and determination of the LGBTQIA+ community has ensured we will have [a] historic, groundbreaking show that will bring our community together in these trying times. Global Pride is our time to shine, our time to show the enormous and beautiful diversity of LGBTQIA+ people in every corner of the world.”
Global Pride has also set up a relief fund to raise funds for Pride events that have been affected by the spread of COVID-19.
The event has received a significant amount of support from the business world in the form of partnerships with organizations such as Facebook, Gilead Sciences, iHeart Radio and AARP. InterPride Co-President J. Andrew Baker said this support is helpful in amplifying LGBTQ+ visibility and bolstering the fight for greater inclusivity.
“‘Businesses around the world have a place in the fight for LGBTQIA+ equality and human rights protection, and each partner that has supported Global Pride is helping us to ensure the visibility of our community and to shout out for inclusion and the end of discrimination,’” he said.
Global Pride will be broadcast on June 27 on its official website and singer Todrick Hall’s YouTube channel, as well as its official Facebook page. To find out specifically when the special will begin streaming where you live, click here. To donate to the Global Pride relief fund, click here.
