Global Pride 2020: A Virtual Celebration

The COVID-19 global pandemic may have canceled the parades, but the celebrations will continue. LGBTIQ+ pride festivals around the world are bringing the party, the advocacy, and the community right into your home. The most ambitious of them all is a live 24-hour global streaming event hosted by Global Pride, which will feature content from around the world.

Global Pride’s website and YouTube channel will livestream the event on June 27. Organizers expect to attract up to 300 million viewers, with more than 1,500 pride organizations participating.

“Pride events may be canceled, but the spirit of Pride will live on,” emphasize the Global Pride organizers via a press release.

Global Pride will feature performances by artists such as The Chicks, Ava Max, Olivia Newton-John, Pabllo Vittar, and Bright Light Bright Light. Notably, political leaders like Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado Quesada, whose country recently legalized same-sex marriage, are scheduled to speak alongside several LGBTIQ+ activists.

“We’ve harnessed the power of the internet to combat isolation as queer individuals when we thought we were the only ones. The internet has been a lifeline for those who felt alone to find information, connection, and community,” stated Cathy Renna, communications director for the National LGBTQ Task Force, in a conversation with the Washington Post in May.

This event isn’t the only virtual gathering this year. Numerous pride organizations are arranging their own, more localized virtual celebrations. Among these, NYC Pride, celebrating its 50th anniversary, is hosting a two-hour event from noon to 2 PM on June 28, which will air on WABC Channel 7 (New York) and livestream on the channel’s website.

In partnership with GLAAD, NYC Pride is collaborating with Marti Gould Cummings and The Only Productions to host a three-day virtual “Pride 2020 Drag Fest,” showcasing over 100 performers. This event will livestream on the NYC Pride and GLAAD Facebook pages.