Gay City News: Community flocks to Jackson Heights for ‘dragtastic’ Queens Pride

Gay City News: Community flocks to Jackson Heights for ‘dragtastic’ Queens Pride | June 2023: New York City’s second-largest Pride celebration, and the first major Pride event taking place this month, kicked off Sunday, June 4, in Jackson Heights, Queens. The theme: Dragtastic.

“With ‘Dragtastic’ as our theme this year, we are saying to the world that we love drag and all it represents,” former New York City Councilmember and LGBT Caucus Chair Daniel Dromm said in a written statement.

The New Queens Pride is in its second year under the leadership of the LGBT Network and its president David Kilmnick, who are continuing a 30-year-old Pride tradition in Jackson Heights held annually on the first Sunday in June.

“Last year’s record-setting crowd established New Queens Pride as THE place to be to kick off Pride Month,” Kilmnick said.

Before noon, a record 125 community groups and floats, including representation from over two dozen local schools, waited for their cue to get rolling. Some attendees and float participants arrived just as the procession was starting.

Dennis Redmond, chief strategy officer for The Queens Community House, lined up for the parade along with two of the organization’s LGBTQ-specific programs — the Queens Center for Gay Seniors (“the borough’s only senior center for LGBT adults”) and Generation Q, which provides a drop-in center for LGBTQ youth in Queens as well as providing educational programs for LGBT students and teachers.

“We’re going to have a good time!” Dennis promised while older adults loaded onto the trolley.

One difference between Queens Pride and the NYC Pride in Manhattan is diversity. Queens is the city’s center for multiculturalism, drawing LGBTQ individuals from all over the world to the borough.

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