April 4, 2024
Global Black Pride Selects Atlanta To Host Its First-Ever Event In The U.S
This is going to be so much fun!
Atlanta has been selected as the host city for the first-ever Global Black Pride in the U.S.
This is not only the first time the celebration will come to the United States but also the second time it will be in person. The City of Atlanta LGBTQ Affairs posted the announcement on Instagram, touching on why this event is so important. “As a platform that amplifies the voices, experiences, and achievements of Black LGBTQ+ individuals worldwide, Global Black Pride offers a unique opportunity for unity, visibility, and advocacy,” the post said.
Scheduled for Aug. 26 through Sept. 2, the weeklong event will include a number of festivities, including the Black Pride Parade, Human Rights Conference, Black Trans Rally, film festival, theater, workshops, dance parties, and performances. Atlanta City’s Director of LGBTQ Affairs, Malik Brown, says the city is proud to host such a vibrant event “as the LGBTQ capital of the South.” “Atlanta proudly stands as the LGBTQ capital of the South and a champion for human rights, not only in our region but on a global scale,” Brown said, according to Rough Draft Atlanta.
“We are honored to welcome the first-ever Global Black Pride gathering in the United States to the vibrant City of Atlanta.”
Global Black Pride was first founded in 2020 by Global Black Gay Men Connect (GBGMC) during the COVID-19 pandemic as the first Pride organization “that brings together Black LGBTQI+ communities across all continents to celebrate culture and diversity, providing a space for activists and community-based organizations across the globe to engage and reflect.”
The first in-person celebration was held in 2022 in Toronto, Canada, with a mission “to serve as a global platform to celebrate all Black LGBTQI+ diversity and to build a global movement to fight for freedom, liberation, and justice for all Black LGBTQI+ communities across the globe.”
On the GBGMC website, there is a place to donate to an emergency fund geared toward community members in the African nation of Uganda. Uganda passed anti-LGBTQ legislation, where penalties outlawing homosexuality include death and life sentences in prison.
Documents list same-sex intercourse with persons under 18, an “offender” who is HIV+, or a person who even identifies as LGBTQ as aggravated homosexuality. The organization’s Emergency Response Fund — in collaboration with Uganda Key Populations Consortium and Sexual Minorities Uganda — supports emergency relocation for individuals, stipends for food, housing stipends, medical care assistance, and home delivery assistance of HIV medications and other urgent needs.
Community members seem to be excited about the event coming to the “Peach State.” Comments under the post have promoted some things they want to see included in the celebration’s programming, such as Afrobeats, Amapiano, dancehall, and the house ballroom community.