Plans for NYC Pride are starting to shape up. Earlier this month, the theme, which will be “Equality Needs You,” was announced. This week, the DJ line-up for the Dance on the Pier was also announced. It should be a great dance party, with Alain Jackinsky from Montreal, Hoxton Whores from London, Honey Soundsystem from San Francisco, and Ben Baker from New York. With all these amazing DJs, it should be a pretty spectacular show, especially with the fireworks show scheduled to conclude the party at 10 PM. The Dance on the Pier will be the closing event of NYC Pride, happening on Sunday, June 26 on Hudson River Park’s Pier 26.
The Dance on the Pier has been the largest fundraising event of NYC Pride since 1986, making this the 30 year anniversary for the event. The Dance, along with other pride events, such as the VIP Rooftop Party, Teaze, Graffiti, Femme Fatale, and Fantasy, ends up making over $45,000 for the organization, which helps to keep Pride going and, more importantly, provide grants for smaller LGBT non-profits.
Chris Frederick, who is the NYC Pride Managing Director, is excited about this progress and new feel of the Dance on the Pier: “It’s amazing to see how the Dance on the Pier has evolved over the last 30 years from an outdoor protest set to music, to one of the world’s most renowned LGBT events.” It’s amazing to think of how NYC Pride events began as annual protests for LGBT rights and to see what it has turned into. The theme of this year’s Pride emphasizes that we need to continue the fight for equality
We may have the right to marry now, but as organizers for the NYC Pride have said, “We’re getting closer, but we aren’t there yet. Just ask the bisexual homeless youth on the Christopher Street Pier, the trans worker trying to achieve the American dream, or the gay refugee escaping certain death in his war torn homeland. The Supreme Court’s affirmation of marriage equality marked progress in the national and worldwide LGBT movement, but it was not a finish line. Equality needs you now more than ever. In 2016, we are making sure that some of the world’s largest and most visible LGBT events are helping to amplify our continued fight. EQUALITY NEEDS YOU, and you can answer the call. Join us for NYC Pride 2016.”
