CA Pride

By Kevin Perry

Newsflash: if you’re reading this, you’re gay. Congrats! You’re grand, you’re gorgeous and you have so much fabulosity that it can’t be contained in one festival.

Well, we have (even more) great news for you: California is *almost* as queer as you, and its Pride sprawls across dozens of cities throughout June and beyond. So, how can you align your personal LGBTQ+ vibes with the best happenings in the Golden State? Simply follow our lead and read on!

Why put off until tomorrow a party you can enjoy today? That’s the philosophy behind this first batch of bashes igniting the weekend of June 3-5.

Rock out with your jock out in Venice, CA., where a funky mélange of acts will entertain your sweet ass. Wave (pun intended) to the drag queen lifeguards as deep house meets deep waters. Beach, please! And remember to look up from the shore to gay gaze at the Global Rainbow laser installation. Designed by Yvette Mattern, this beacon of inclusion will light up your life!

Anyone who has ever enjoyed the burly embrace of Lazy Bear will squeal with delight to know that Sonoma County is resuming its Pride prowess this year. The theme is We Are Family and we are already blaring Sister Sledge in our heads. Join the chorus and join the fun! Santa Rosa hosts an intimate yet intoxicating roster of events, including an open-air happy hour, parade, and festival, so get Pride’ing! Rev up your appetite for food trucks and fierceness as Fresno Rainbow Pride unfurls on June 4. This year’s event commemorates the life and legacy of the late, great Jeffery Robinson. This community leader lives on in the hearts of everyone who knew him, so follow signs featuring Jeffery’s iconic beard and multihued glasses for a fun time and even greater causes.

After all, Pride is purposeful. It began as an amplification of the Stonewall riots and snowballed into a riot all its own. Every neighborhood celebrates differently and diversely.

Take, for example, the tale of two suburbs: Glendale and West Hollywood. They both nestle playfully under the glitzy umbrella known as Los Angeles, but they fly their respective flags uniquely. Glendale is engaging in a humble affair on the first Saturday afternoon of the month, but the nights belong to WeHo. Li’l Kim and Jessie J will rock the main stage of the OutLoud Raising Voices Music Festival. Crank your WeHo Pride and simmer in some gurl power!

Now you are ready for the main event… part 1. Los Angeles Pride is so epic, we need to take a (disco) beat before diving in headfirst. The two main pillars of this June 10-12 weekend wonderland are Pride in the Park on Saturday and the 52nd annual street parade on Sunday.

First thing’s fabulous: the Saturday concert lineup is gag-worthy, including RuPaul veterans like Bob the Drag Queen and Eureka. And as the sun goes down, the talent heats up. Anitta will

be there! [pause for gay gasps galore] And did we mention the headliner: Christina Aguilera?!? [pause for medical attention] Truly, you can’t miss this arty, hunty.

Speaking of parties, there are a slew of soirees peppering Pride weekend in the City of Angels, you devil. They’ve got pool parties, tea dances, and club cavorting supreme! Masterbeat is selling combo passes appropriately titled United in Pride, so hitch your wagon to a star-studded slate of sass!

But let’s be honest – sometimes, big thrills come in small packages. Quaint Pride fests speckle the California coast on June 11th. Exhibit Gay: Oceanside’s Pride by the Beach event. Shake your groove thang in their dance tent and then refuel your aforementioned groove thang at one of the tasty food trucks nearby.

Further upstate, Chandon is sponsoring their very first Pride weekend in Yountville, CA. It promises to be a bubbly sip of the good life in the heart of Napa Valley, so save room for a refill!

Harmony is at the top of the menu at Davis Pride, where Ada Vox will flex her pipes alongside The Voice finalist OneUp Duo. Just 20 minutes east, the state capital transforms into the capital of queer togetherness as 20,000 attendees grace Sacramento with their Pride presence. You won’t want to miss the community march to the Capitol. Step up for empowerment!

Unfortunately, June only last 30 days (offended!), but us gays make the most of every last damn minute, don’t we though? Case in point: the final weekend of the month is our cue for much ado!

The city synonymous with queer representation is representing, indeed. San Francisco Pride blankets June 25 & 26 with same sex ‘tude and triumphs. This year’s theme is Love Will Keep Us Together, and the City by the Bay always delivers. With over 20 stages to choose from, visitors will have their pick of comedy, music and love-is-love on tap!

But what sets SF apart from every other place on gawd’s gay earth is its esteemed history. The parade echoes the many marches that caressed these streets in years past, from the candlelight vigil that memorialized Harvey Milk all the way to the queer-and-now. This will be the 52nd SF Pride event, but each one feels achingly special and thrillingly urgent.

The spirit of San Francisco is so vibrant that it is rippling into the surrounding suburbs. 2022 marks the first ever Pride Parade in Clayton, CA. – so get ready to make herstory on June 25 at 10am!

That same day, OC Pride flourishes in downtown Santa Ana. Monique Heart is serving drag kween realness and our cubby crush Big Dipper is shaking his hairy heinie. Oh, you know we’ll have a front-row seat for that backfield display, urrrkay?

Just because June ends, you don’t have to stop being gay. That would be like telling the sky to stop being blue or telling poodles to… well, stop being gay. In fact, California Pride extends well into the summer and beyond. It’s never too early to plan for next month’s festivities, so we’re rounding up some raucous options below.

Hang ten in Long Beach on July 8-10. Their Pride festival features everything from family-friendly fare to leather appreciation and drag makeup tutorials. They’ve even got a roller rink for the Xanadu fans out there (both of you!).

Not to be outdone, San Diego is supersizing their Pride to eight full days of gay, hooray! The calendar kicks off with She Fest 2022, lights up with a mid-week cathedral rainbow light display, and culminates with a festival full of wonder on July 16-17. Magic accomplished!

Tickle your techie/queer fantasies the final week of August at Silicon Valley Pride. A mere seven days later, Inland Empire Pride plants its rainbow flag on Labor Day weekend. And one week after that, Oakland is strutting its stuff with a parade of diversity and activism.

Focusing our gay goggles even further into the future and deep into paradise, Palm Springs celebrates Pride in early November. Block parties spill out into the gayest street on earth as several stages blare A-list acts every year.

As you can see, June is just the beginning of your waltz with Pride throughout California. There really is no expiration date on loving yourself.

From the Amazon Forest to Carnival, to owning one of the Seven Wonders of the World and dominating the world of soccer, Brazil just does everything big. Adding to the colorful culture is Grag Queen, crowned the Queen of the Universe, and she’s about to become one of Brazil’s hottest exports.

A dash of Eurovision Song Contest and a pinch of Drag Race, Paramount +’s Queen of the Universe pitted 14 queens from 10 countries against each other in a nail-biting and hair teasing competition where these larger-than-life queens not only had to bring the lewks, but they had to… gasp… actually sing for themselves! In front of judges from the pop and pop culture world Leona Lewis, Michelle Visage, Trixie Mattel, and Vanessa Williams, Grag became a viral sensation for her performance of Andra Day’s “Rise Up.” At the end of the series, host Graham Norton crowned her as the first winner of Queen of the Universe and the recipient of a record-breaking $250,000, the highest amount paid for any drag-related competition. Crown in hand, she is continuing her musical legacy and heading to the States. She made her Los Angeles debut at Drag Con and will appear alongside Christina Aguilera and fellow Brazilian pop star, Anitta, at this year’s LA Pride. She is also on a mission to write new music every month through the summer and is now expanding her library to include songs in English. The first peek into her new English album is her single “Party Everyday,” with a follow-up track to be included in the final season of Love, Victor. Her hit song, “Bota Fé” has garnered over half a million views on YouTube and streams on Spotify.

She is not just using her voice for music. She is using her platform to bring awareness to the discrimination and violence that exists towards the LGBTQ+ community under Brazil’s current administration. Brazil continues to be the country with the largest number of trans people killed, not including the number of hate crimes against the LGBTQ community that 11 states in Brazil still refuse to catalog.

Armed with a powerhouse voice and make-up skills that have earned her a place in drag history, she is on a mission. We are proud to have Grag Queen as our Pride issue centerfold. She stopped by to spill the tea for our Spotlight Rapid Fire.

Hometown: CANELA, BRAZIL

How did you come up with your drag name?

My name is Gregory and I’m a drag queen. WHY NOT be Grag Queen? Ha, ha! They used to call me that in school in an offensive way. Now, it’s surely not offensive.

What is your guilty pleasure?

Socks and sandals.

Your favorite part about doing drag?

Going from being a tired gay adult to being a fierce bish!

Least favorite part about doing drag?

The need to drink water… meaning the need to pee! I FREAK OUT!

By Alexander Rodriguez

Photo by SB Music and Maicon Doulglas Fotografia

Photo by Rodolfo Magalhaes

It’s not a happy one - but being threatened and pushed on the subway line by a crazy guy in Brazil. It made me feel so vulnerable and scared.

Most un-drag thing you do?

If it’s not showing, don’t shave it. [Laughs]

Strangest hobby or talent?

Gurl, my mind runs SO fast that I can come up with lots of jokes in minutes on that question…

What celebrity most needs a drag makeover?

I would love to see Anitta in drag.

Favorite nightlife hotspots?

The corners, with wine and friends.

Favorite binge food?

Salads and chocolate.

What is the most overrated pop song?

I could never!

Your go-to cocktail?

Anything with alcohol! In Brazil, we drink some crazy things like Corote, Catuaba, and Chevete. They’re cheap and deliver a very strong hangover. What would the name of your biography be?

“WHO IS SHE?”

Favorite song to perform:

“Party Everyday” or “Rise Up.”

Celebrity dream duet?

Lauryn Hill.

Do you really party every day?

I celebrate every day. I party only if I have a day off afterward… but it’s been a long time since I’ve seen a day off!

What must every party have?

Bathrooms.

What is your after-drag ritual?

Take off all the makeup, take a shower, and moisturize, moisturize, moisturize.

What’s your favorite pickup line?

“What’s Up, Lindas (Pretties)?”

Strangest place you’ve had “relations?”

I would say on the streets in the middle of Brazilian Carnival. Aye!

You can follow Grag Queen on IG: @GragQueen