In late June, the world’s LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) communities will party in New York City’s streets. Let’s go back to the date in 1969 when police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York’s West Village. The ensuing Stonewall riots lasted several days and are considered to be the beginning of the modern gay rights movement.
Celebrations typically climax in a flamboyant parade, which, in New York, proceeds south on Fifth Ave, through Greenwich Village and past the Stonewall Inn. The week of parties leading up to the NYC parade includes raves on the piers and rallies in the parks, all demonstrating the gay community’s pride in itself and its lifestyle…not to mention its unrivalled party skills. Inspired by the week, the parade is a glorious cavalcade of feather boas, skin-tight leather, lesbians on motorbikes, transvestites on floats, beefy gay guys in cowboy hats, and dazed tourists.
Since the first events took place in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles in 1970 to commemorate the Stonewall riots, late June has become a key date on the gay calendar worldwide. San Francisco Pride is California’s second-largest parade, attracting up to a million people.
Local attractions: The Empire State Building on Fifth Ave is a good place to get your bearings in Manhattan.
More info: www. nycpride.org
Photo credit: gay biker daddies by istolethetv: Creative Commons.
Location: New York, USA
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
