Sat 6/3
It’s just the beginning of LGBTQ+ Pride Month in Greater Cleveland, but by the end of today, you may be too tired to continue the celebration (unlikely!)
The annual Pride in the CLE celebration downtown starts with the parade which steps off at 11am from Public Square — formerly its terminus, but the event has outgrown the space. It makes its way to the more spacious environs of Malls B & C where there’ll be food, drink, vendors and loads of entertainment on the Main Stage, as well as a Speak Out stage featuring activists, poets and others with a message to share. It goes on until 6pm, and it’s free and open to all who joyfully embrace difference and letting people be who they are.
After that there are lots of places to go to keep the party going. There’s Studio West 117, of course, the LGBTQ+ complex in Lakewood, which has multiple shows/events going on in all their spaces, including music, a dance party and a couple of drag shows. And the events continue into the following day. It’s nonstop! Check ’em out here.
For those looking for late night fun, dancing and music, Cleveland glam rockers Vanity Crash are hosting a Pride after party starting at 9PM on the East Bank of the Flats, complete with Pride trivia, original music and glam favorites by Lady Gaga, T. Rex, The Velvet Underground, David Bowie, and more. Details here.
If you’re on the east side, you can celebrate at the 5th Annual Pre-Pride on the East Side, hosted by drag artist Anhedonia Delight’s monthly GlamGore event. (OK, so it’s technically post-Pride; so what?) She’s rounded up an all-star cast of drag performers including Cleveland’s Jared Jamison, Akron’s Alejandro Love, Columbus’ Maya Bizness, Lancaster’s Karma Khaos, and special guests Ricky Rose from Washington D.C. and, from California, Felony Dodger who appeared on The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula Season 2. As usual, DJ Zoe will be spinning the music to party too. Fun starts at 8pm. Get your tickets here.
If you’re in the mood for something less party-oriented and more thought-provoking, Wordstage in presenting an evening called “Oscar, Bram and Walt” at the Lakewood Presbyterian Church at 7pm.
It explores the influence of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass on British writers Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker, both of whom corresponded with and met the older American poet where they talked about such topics art, aesthetics, self-promotion and masculinity (Wilde and probably Whitman were gay; Stoker was not) among other things Wordstage’s performance is drawn from letters, newspaper articles and other records from the 19thcentury when they lived. Get tickets here.