June is a special month because summer is coming, the sea is no longer an idea but a place to take your clothes off, where the heat of the cities disappears. June is also the month when you go out on the streets to march for LGBTQI+ rights, it’s the month to undress from those boring and vintage opinions.
June is multicolor, inclusive and free. Long live the Pride Month!
Somewhere over the rainbow
The beauty of this initiatives is the ability to stay close while being miles away. After corona virus numerous Pride parades were canceled, but it was instead launched an interesting initiative where 800 rainbows coordinations joint forces to realize the first Global Pride. It will be a virtual parade, a rainbow around the world that will start from Southeast Asia, to go trough Europe and reach America.
Italy and global initiatives
It may not show down the streets, but in Italy the ferment is strong even in the virtual world. So, the Roma Pride has sponsored an international initiative that will see its first italian edition.
The Italy Pride Stars is a italian version of the international “Pride Star Home edition”. It’s a competition to exhibit your own talent: sing, dance and acrobatics. Anyone can participate in the auditions, in any country, and the viewers can comfortably vote at home who they prefer, through the App.
But it’s not the only interesting initiative. From North to South of the world and of Italy there is cooperation and will to validate words with facts, in fact Microsoft Italia will participate to Milan Pride with various special projects.
The challenge of Microsoft Italia is already clear from the claim they’ve chosen: "The more we talk, the more we understand". In 1989, Microsoft introduced freedom of sexual orientation into its non-discrimination policies, today it chooses to make various donations to non profit organization to endorse the LGBTQI + and the racial equity’ fights.
It’s not enough. In addition to big initiatives, Microsoft pursues small and evident activities for everyone, for example you can download some stickers and skype call backgrounds for free for this special week, or if you need templates for a project, there are new multicolor downloadable templates for free.
To comply with the rules due to the Covid-19 emergency, several Prides have decided to cancel or postpone their big event, replacing it with a series of appointments between real and virtual. Wherever you are in Italy, this information could be useful to take part in this great party:
Milano Pride
There are several online events. For example Hanky Collection, concept inspired by the history of the LGBTQI+ community, is a digital creative platform that offers an interesting talk-format in the larger Queeridescent project. The talk will be about art history, activism, fashion and design, and will be discussing the use of the rainbow color and his chromatic evolution that led it to be mainstream.
Napoli Pride
It is expected a flashmob in Plebiscito square, to comply with the rules of social distancing.
Torino Pride
CreativAfrica, in collaboration with Torino Pride, offers a reading in memory of Binyavanga Wainaina, african LGBT symbol and author of the: “I am a homosexual, mum” letter.
Rimini Pride
To comply with the anti-Coronavirus rules, Arcigay Rimini "Alan Turing" in collaboration with the CabanaBeach28 Chiringuito beach launched the Chiringay’s nights with his happy hour edition.
Roma Pride
In collaboration with Brianza Pride, is waiting for you for the Italy Pride Stars Home edition.
Pescara Pride
It organizes a flash mob for friday afternoon, Pescara Pride also launched the exhibitions “Loves” and “Religo”, at Circolo Aternino.
Pride at home
The Pride and the gender values don’t run out in a week, they are something you choose to believe in forever.
If you like to study the history behind the festive parades or the colorful and shiny Pride initiatives, we will leave you some interesting ideas here:
- Un amore segreto: A documentary you can find on Netflix produced by Ryan Murphy. A love story between Pat Henschel and Terry Donahue, the player who inspired the movie Winning Girls.
- Tales of the City: The entire saga is taken from the books of Armistead Maupin, it deals with life from the perspective of the residents at number 28 of Barbary Lane, San Francisco. Mrs Anna Madrigal and all the generations of her loved ones that follow one another over time.
- Lonesome Cowboys, Andy Warhol: On Amazon Prime you will find Lonesome Cowboys, the story of a troupe of porn actors in a Spaghetti Western set with the intent to shoot a porn-parody, hampered by continuous forms of untold violence.
- Ragazzi di vita, Pier Paolo Pasolini: A novel that tells the life of a group of boys from the Roman sub-proletariat on the theme of male prostitution. In addition to the book, you can also find further deepening on a Rai documentary.
- L’altra parte di me, Cristina Obber: Even the youngest can approach the theme naturally by discovering the story of Francesca who is sixteen years old and feels the butterflies in her stomach for a princess, called Giulia.
- Camere separate, Pier Vittorio Tondelli: Writer and declared homosexual, Leo, faces the death of Thomas, his musician boyfriend. In this article from The Post you can find some reflections about the author.
- Stop!! Hibari Kun! Eguchi Hisashi: An ironic manga that expresses a fresh and modern vision on the theme of gender equality and self-determination you cannot miss. Are you curious to find out what happens in the home of boss Ozora, in the Yakuza? An orphan boy is welcomed into the house and as soon as he sees the beautiful Hibari he falls in love, at first sight. But his certainties are severely tested when Ozora defines his son Hibari as a perverse and effeminate he cannot accept.
On the street, alone, with someone else, with books, with words, with art, clothes on, undressed, on an happy day or in a sad one, be yourself and let the other express themselves freely.
Happy Pride Week!
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