DC Latinx Pride 2019: Everything You Need to Know
A week full of art, history, and social events honors the local LGBTQ Latinx community
There’s an event suited to virtually everyone’s taste at this year’s D.C.’s Latinx Pride. Combining an art show, a historical walking tour, an interfaith service, a networking brunch, and a dance party, the weeklong celebration is designed to include every part of the local LGBTQ Latinx community.
Kicking things off on Saturday, June 1 is a Pride Brunch and Open House, co-hosted by the D.C. Metro chapter of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Alumni Association and the Latino GLBT History Project (LHP) — the latter of which is in charge of organizing Latinx Pride.
“Our main objective is to figure out ways that grassroots organizations and larger, predominantly Latinx or Hispanic groups can come together and work as a team for collaborative projects, for funding, and for different networking opportunities,” says Steph Niaupari, vice president of LHP, of the brunch.
Later that day, Latinx Pride will host La Fe, a nondenominational service celebrating queer Latinx identities and featuring discussions reflecting on the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, well as the lived experiences of LGBTQ Latinx people and their ongoing fight for equality.
On Sunday, June 2, LHP will host a trilingual walking tour of the Adams Morgan, Mount Pleasant, and Columbia Heights neighborhoods, led by founder Jose Gutierrez, visiting landmarks of historical importance to D.C.’s LGBTQ Latinx community.
On Tuesday, June 4, the organization hosts La Platica, or “the talk,” which this year includes an arts showcase, followed by a discussion with featured artists, at the Human Rights Campaign headquarters. The showcase will highlight both established and emerging Latinx LGBTQ artists who use their art not only to celebrate their identity and culture but to influence social change, including Johanna Toruno, Xemi the Two Spirit, David Amoroso, Felipe Baeza, Ashley Llanes, Andrea Garcia, Selena Alvarez, Kah Mendoza, and Nicholas Shi.
“As someone who started off as a volunteer, I always get very excited at La Platica, because the topics that LHP has highlighted always have some kind of meaning to me,” says Niaupari. “For example, the first year I was on the board, we spoke about housing, and how to afford housing in D.C. This year, we’re talking about art and how to make our voices heard.”
The celebration of Latinx Pride concludes with La Fiesta, a dance party at The DC Eagle on Thursday, June 6, featuring both local and international drag performers and go-go dancers, and the crowning of LHP’s newest Royal Court members, who have been nominated for their community service work on behalf of LGBTQ or Latinx organizations or causes.
LHP will also be raffling off T-shirts to raise money for Guayaqueer City, an LGBTQ organization located in Guayaquil, Ecuador, as part of an annual tradition of collaborating with grassroots LGBTQ organizations in various Latin American countries.
Latinx Pride runs from Saturday, June 1 to Thursday, June 6. For a full list of events, visit www.facebook.com/pg/LatinoGLBTHistory/events.
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