{"id":27579,"date":"2021-06-24T14:35:47","date_gmt":"2021-06-24T14:35:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?post_type=articles&p=27579"},"modified":"2021-06-24T15:17:52","modified_gmt":"2021-06-24T15:17:52","slug":"last-pride-grace-jones","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/last-pride-grace-jones\/","title":{"rendered":"The Last Pride On Earth, Day 2: Grace Jones and Inexplicable FOMO"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Grace
Grace Jones performs during WorldPride NYC 2019 (Photo: Steven Ferdman\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pride<\/a> is back\u2026sort of. Mostly? It\u2019s hard to say what it\u2019s going to be like this year. New York is well on the way to fully reopening<\/a> after more than a year of COVID restrictions kept most of us housebound and isolated. But while in-person LGBTQ+ parties, celebrations and actions are happening \u2014 and selling out fast if my group texts are any indication \u2014NYC Pride\u2019s official events remain mostly virtual for the second year in a row. This weird, transitional, hybrid Pride season has me thinking back on Pride 2019, the last one before the pandemic \u2014 which also happened to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising. That year, I kept a diary<\/a> of all the nonsense my friends and I got up to during what, in the two years since, I\u2019ve come to think of as The Last Pride on Earth. This is Day 2 of those mostly accurate, entirely true diary entries.<\/em><\/p>\n

Saturday, June 30, 2019<\/strong>
\n11am:<\/strong> Scrolling texts from friends about their further adventures after leaving the Rainbow Room<\/a> for other, far-flung parties:<\/p>\n

The only problem with last night was not being able to get f*cked on the dance floor. It was perfect other than that.<\/em><\/p>\n

My shirt changed color. I went in with a yellow tank top and I left with a red one.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Daily<\/em> drops an episode about the tension between inclusion and corporatization of Pride festivities. Someone who does marketing and PR for NYC Pride<\/a> argues that the org. is able to hold their corporate sponsors accountable for policies that affect LGBTQ employees (though cannot name an instance in which they have done so) and that these sponsorships and brand activations are spearheaded by actual LGBTQ employees. Here\u2019s what I\u2019d like to know: all month I\u2019ve seen rainbow flags in stores and banks around my office in midtown, major national brands rolling out the rainbow carpet, hoisting the Pride banner. But did they do the same at their stores outside of major metropolitan areas? Are people in malls across America seeing as many rainbow flags and Pride t-shirts as I am? Or did these brands just show support for the LGBTQ community in cities where they wouldn\u2019t get any blowback? If so, that\u2019s not advocacy.<\/p>\n

2pm: <\/strong>I check my email one last time to see if I\u2019ve been approved for a press pass for Pride Island, NYC Pride\u2019s big music festival\/dance party on Pier 97. And I have! The confirmation email was sent at 7:57am this morning, meaning some poor soul at NYC Pride was up super early \u2014 or super late \u2014 approving press credentials for an event happening literally in a matter of hours.<\/p>\n

Scrolling Twitter, Cher<\/a>\u2019s tweet about Pride gives me the hangover feels. I don\u2019t generally love when \u201cgay icons\u201d tell queer people how much we\u2019ve<\/em> been through and how far we\u2019ve<\/em> come. It always feels condescending or pandering. But I guess I\u2019m a little more susceptible in my fragile morning-after condition, and I actually tear up a little.<\/p>\n

\n

Can\u2019t Believe It\u2019s 50 YRS SINCE STONEWALL \ud83d\ude4c\ud83c\udffb.Don\u2019t Have Anything Witty Or Smart 2 Say..actually I\u2019m in tears
writing this\ud83d\ude25.U HAVE FOUGHT SO LONG,BEEN SO STRONG,IM BEAMING WITH PRIDE\ud83c\udf08. WE HAVE HAD EACH OTHERS BACKS SINCE I WAS 9.WE WILL CONTINUE 2 WALK THE ROAD 2GETHER <\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

— Cher (@cher) June 28, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n