[Archived] City of Alexandria Celebrates Pride Month

­­For Immediate Release: June 1, 2021

The City of Alexandria will observe Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ+) Pride Month in June with activities recognizing LGBTQ+ people, and their contributions to Alexandria’s diverse community, and to the nation. This year’s celebration includes a series of virtual workshops, a lecture, the display of Progress Pride Flags at Market Square (301 King St.), and more. Each year, Pride Month recognizes LGBTQ+ people, their influence around the world, and the challenges they face.

On June 3, Mayor Justin Wilson and members of City Council will present a Pride Month Proclamation to open a workshop on the changing legal landscape for LGBTQ+ Virginians, presented by Legal Services of Northern Virginia, the City’s Office of Human Rights and the Virginia Equality Bar Association. 

June 3-5, a series of 12 “Celebrate Alexandria Pride” workshops will be hosted by the Alexandria LGBTQ Task Force and the Alexandria Library. Workshop topics will include mental health and creative art programming, white privilege in LGBTQ+ communities, the history of Black LGBTQ+ activism in the region, and older LGBTQ+ adults. Due to COVID-19 health guidelines, this year’s virtual events are being offered in place of the annual Alexandria Pride Fair. Workshops are free and registration is required.

On June 10, historian Dr. Eric Gonzaba will present “Mapping the Gay Guide: Understanding Queer Spaces in Pre- and Post-Stonewall America.” Dr. Gonzaba will discuss his project “Mapping the Gay Guides,” a digital project that aims to understand the often-ignored queer geographies through an interactive web application. An “Out of the Attic” column will focus on female impersonator performances at the Capitol Theater in the 1930s. 

The Progress Pride Flag, a 2018 redesign of the Rainbow Pride Flag, was designed by Daniel Quasar and highlights black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), transgender and nonbinary communities. The flags will be displayed at Market Square throughout June to show support for Alexandria’s LGBTQ+ community and the City’s ALL Alexandria commitment to reduce and eliminate disparities and inequities experienced by all residents, especially those in communities of color and other groups who have been historically and systemically marginalized.

June was chosen as Pride Month to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Riots, when New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay club located in Greenwich Village. The raid sparked a riot among bar patrons and neighborhood residents as police roughly hauled employees and patrons out of the bar, leading to six days of protests and violent clashes with law enforcement outside the bar. The Stonewall Riots served as a catalyst for the gay rights movement in the United States and around the world.

For more information about the Celebrate Alexandria Pride, workshops, lecture, presenters and how to register, visit alexandriava.gov/LGBTQ. For books and information related to Pride Month, visit Alexandria Library’s LGBTQ Pride webpage.

For inquiries from the news media only, contact Andrea Blackford, Senior Communications Officer, at andrea.blackford@alexandriava.gov or 703.746.3959.

For reasonable disability accommodation, contact maurice.tomdio@alexandriava.gov or call 571.384.5244, Virginia Relay 711.