Baltimore Pride returns this June with in-person and online events, no parade

Baltimore Pride is back for 2021 to celebrate the city’s LGBTQ+ and same-gender-loving communities, although the parade and festival (including the high-heel race) that are staples of the annual event will be absent from this year’s festivities.

Karen Remaley, associate director of The Pride Center of Maryland, said Pride organizers typically apply for permits for the parade and festival in January, but were unable to do so because of coronavirus restrictions.

Even without those events, however, Remaley said it is “absolutely exhilarating” to commemorate Pride Month this year with a mix of virtual and in-person events throughout June, especially after organizers canceled Baltimore Pride in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Attendees of Pride events will be required to wear face masks, and will be encouraged to physically distance themselves from people not in their household, Remaley said. There will also be hand sanitizer stations.

Organizers of New York City’s Pride events this year banned police and other law enforcement from marching in their parade until at least 2025. In Washington, D.C., organizers of the Capital Pride Parade in 2018 banned uniformed police officers from marching in the parade, and that policy will continue this year.

This comes a year after people nationwide took to the streets in the summer of 2020 to protest systemic police violence against Black people; condemn the officers who killed George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others; and advocate for the reallocation of police funds to pay for community needs.

Because Baltimore Pride 2021 will not feature a parade, Remaley said organizers “have not had any discussion” about police participation in Pride parades going forward.

“I’m sure that as we begin planning for the next parade that it will be something that will be a topic of discussion,” she said.

The theme of this year’s Baltimore Pride is “You Matter, Love Matters, Pride Matters.”

Regarding the first section of that theme, Remaley said it is important for sexual and gender minorities to understand that they matter as an individual.

“It’s so easy as a marginalized person to feel like you’re not important, that you’re not valued,” she said. “We see many times that people — for no reason other than who they are, their sexual or gender identity — are harassed, threatened and in many cases killed.”

As for theme’s second part, Remaley said people should be free to love who they love, and know that expressing that love varies from person to person.

“We all deserve to be loved,” she said. “We all have the right to express that love. It doesn’t have to look a certain way in terms of a stereotype of a heterosexual couple.”

Finally, Remaley said, pride matters always but especially after more than a year of the pandemic, with people largely having to work, learn and live at home away from friends and family.

With more people getting vaccinated and restrictions being eased, Baltimore Pride allows people to more openly express who they are to their communities, Remaley said.

“People are just really excited,” she said. “They’re ready to be able to gather in some form with friends and family and to celebrate Pride.”

Baltimore’s festivities will kick off June 13 with a Pride Fashion Show from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., which Remaley said will be a first-time event for Baltimore Pride..

The fashion show will feature the work of local designers, including Jordi Equitable, The KLVN Brand, KXJ Apparel, Lace Up, London Couture Boutique, ManiqKen, Tomboi, and Under Armour.

B Eazy will host the fashion show, with music curated by DJ Artiste and entertainment provided by the King and Queen of Pride and Ms. New Faces.

“Various local designers will be displaying their garments, and we will have members of the community that will be walking in the fashion show,” Remaley said. “So I just think that it’s a great opportunity for the community to enjoy and celebrate.”

Kiran Xavier Jenkins, the owner of KXJ Apparel, said the Baltimore Pride Fashion Show will be the first time his clothes will hit the runway.

“It feels pretty good to finally be able to show transgender men on stages like this and highlight it,” he said. “I think it’s really important to show that we are trans and we are humans.”

The fashion show will feature clothes from KXJ’s Eff Tee Em brand, a play on “FTM,” or “female-to-male,” a term referring to transgender men who were assigned female at birth.

The line includes shirts, shorts, chest binders, boxers and tank tops, which Jenkins describes as “urban, chic, everyday wear” that people can wear to the gym or out and about.

All the models wearing the brand’s clothes in the show will be transgender men, which was important to Jenkins, who seeks to increase representation for transgender men in fashion and give them “the opportunity of being seen.”

“A lot of guys tend to pass really early on in their transition, and they’re not really being uplifted for who they are,” Jenkins said. “So I just wanted to be that brand who shines a lot of light on them and who they are and everyone on their individual journeys.”

Jenkins’ mother had her own clothing brand, which she used to advocate for her community, and he saw it as his duty to do the same with his clothes for the trans masculine community.

The fashion show will take place at the Safari Night Club at 5625 O’Donnell St., and tickets are $10 each.

After the fashion show, dancer Marquis Clanton will teach a vogue class from 4-6 p.m. on June 13 at the Studio Compound at 4903 Snader Ave. The class costs $10 when attendees RSVP with their full name, or $15 at the door. All skill levels are welcome.

Baltimore Pride will have a live virtual screening of the documentary “Dark City Beneath the Beat” on June 14 at 7 p.m., followed by a panel discussion with the film’s director, TT the Artist.

The Netflix film, which was produced by HBO’s “Insecure” star Issa Rae, explores Baltimore’s club music scene and its creatives.

In an interview with author D. Watkins for the news and culture website Salon, musician TT the Artist said she came across Baltimore’s club scene after moving from Florida to attend the Maryland Institute College of Art.

TT said she connected with the fact that “Baltimore club culture is built around community” and that dance brings people of all ages together.

She decided to create the documentary to highlight “the positive work being done to transform the lives of the young people in Baltimore.”

“The goal for this film was to showcase what type of creative culture and climate and the essence of Baltimore, but also show some of the struggle that some of these artists are facing in getting support so that they continue to sustain themselves in their practices,” she said.

Free State Justice will present a virtual event titled “Strengths of the LGBTQ+ Community” on June 15 at 6 p.m.

There will also be a virtual workshop on transgender custody and legal issues on June 16 at 6 p.m.

Baltimore Pride will hold a free, family-friendly movie night at the Ynot Lot on June 17 at 7 p.m. The movie will be a surprise, Remaley said.

There will be a meet and greet at 16 on the Park, located at 800 N. Wolfe Street #16, from 5 to 10 p.m. on June 18. Community members can mix and mingle with one another as well as the Pride Committee, Pride Center of Maryland staff, and Pride sponsors.

There will also be a virtual poetry slam, hosted by Kenneth Something, from 7:30-9:30 p.m. on June 18. Organizers will award gift cards, cash prizes and trophies, including a prize of $300 for the 1st place winner. Poets can register by emailing kenneth@blackartsdistrict.org, and people can watch the event live on the Black Arts District’s Instagram page.

In place of the annual Pride parade, there will be a virtual Pride broadcast on June 19 from 1 to 4 p.m. Remaley said the event will feature a reel with local politicians, past and present pride volunteers, and community members.

The Just Brunchin Pride Drag Show will be held at Cindy Lou’s Fish House on June 20, with doors opening at 11 a.m. However, tickets are already sold out for that event.

Kayden Amore Chloe and Liyah Michelle Adams will host the drag brunch, and the event will feature performers Brooklyn Heights, Deedee Dereon, Iyana Deschanel, Oohzee, and Rio Blue.

Also on June 20, Monte Ephraim will discuss the history of Baltimore Pride during an Elder Pride Virtual Celebration from 3 to 4 p.m.

Community members will be able to find more details about Baltimore Pride, including links to the virtual events, on the Baltimore Pride Facebook page throughout the month of June.