Most people have heard of the Dallas Pride Festival and Parade this weekend at Fair Park. But what are some of the other Pide events going on around North Texas? Morning Edition Host Andrew Garcia and I decided to take a look at some other out-of-the-ordinary Pride activities happening in our neck of the woods.
One event putting a spin on a traditional parade is happening at the Denton Civic Center Friday, June 13 at Pridenton’s Night Out. Organizers refer to it as a “parade in reverse,” where instead of floats driving up to you throwing stuff out, you go to the “floats,” or booths that are dressed up like floats, to talk with people directly and get your swag.
Pridenton board member Kamyon Conner told us more.
“It's a little more intimate because you get to talk with people who are business owners in Denton or small business owners or non-profits one-on-one and they get to really feel the joy of community too from seeing all of our queer community members,” Conners said.
GETTING CRAFTY
We liked the Queer Craft Night hosted by The Welman Project because it's a great way to celebrate Pride Month, practice sustainability and be creative while you're at it. LGBTQ+ adults and their friends can hang out, and create art with reclaimed materials from local businesses that happens in The Welman Project's makerspace on Saturday, June 21.
There will be a guided project you can join, or you can bring your own craft to work on.
Lauren Watson, who's the director of Development at The Welman Project, tells us why Queer Craft Night is important.
“We really believe in being open and accepting and being an ally and accepting to queer and trans people as they are,” Watson said. “I think in order to make that known, you want to be the change you want to see and you want to provide the safe space that you want.”
MORE THAN A GAME, ITS A TRIVIA SHOW
If games are your thing, the non-profit Dallas Social Queer Organization, or DSQO for short, hosts Hella Gay Trivia, a monthly trivia night at Sue Ellen's in Dallas that raises money to create free programming for Dallas LGBTQ+ adults and allies.
This month they are pulling out all the stops for Pride, on Thursday, June 19.
DSQO's co-founder Javier Enriquez gives us a run-down about what to expect.
“We call it a monthly show because it's not just trivia,” Enriquez said. “You're also going to get a nice drag show. You're going to have an intermission game. And we like to incorporate twists and turns along the way. If you've been to trivia nights, you've probably been somewhere where you just sit down, answer questions and move on. We're too gay for that.”
The trivia is split into several unique categories such as queer icons, toys from the ‘80s, or ‘90s sitcoms. And of course, it wouldn't be a night out without some music.
“We usually have an audio or music category, so maybe you'll hear music and just define who the artist is or finish the lyrics,” Enriquez said. “One of my favorite categories is the Kidz Bop version of a lot of classic songs that people have to identify.”
BE PETTY WITH A PURPOSE
There's also a twist to the game that true competitors will really love.
It goes like this: If you see another team doing well, you can donate 5 dollars to send their best player to sit out the round in the penalty box, or in this case, a big red ottoman.
But teams can fight back and bail out that person for another $5. So the dollars - and the shade - fly, Enriquez puts it this way:
“Because this is a fundraiser, we love to be petty with purpose…and all that money goes directly back to supporting DSQO.”
If you don't have to have a team to play. You can come solo and they'll pair you with a team. That welcoming energy and the money they raise all goes toward bringing people together.
“We know that queer joy and queer community saves lives. Loneliness has a huge effect on people's mental health,” Enriquez said.
Kamyon Connor from Pridenton added:
“It's important that folks have the ability to create community.I think it's always great to create a vehicle for folks to be able to engage with each other in the place where they live.”
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