This column, from the weekly opinion piece MATTER OF FACT, first appeared on BrooklynReporter.com, the Home Reporter and Spectator dated June 3, 2022
June means the beginning of Pride month. The half-century old NYC Pride March will take place in Manhattan toward the end of the month, on June 26, while here in Brooklyn, the Cyclones will host a Pride night during the team’s June 9 game in Coney Island, and on June 11 Park Slope will again be the site of the annual Brooklyn Pride 5K in Prospect Park and Brooklyn Pride Festival.
This year, however, Pride is coming to Southern Brooklyn, as well, thanks to local LGBTQIA+ community group GayRidge. Ahead of the other events around the city, on Sunday, June 5, GayRidge Pride will take place in Owl’s Head Park on what the organizers have dubbed “Pride Hill,” overlooking the bay.
“You don’t get to choose your community. I live in Bay Ridge, and I don’t get to pick and choose this one or that one. They are all my community.”
Mother McKenzie
The day’s festivities will include a picnic, performances, games, face painting, crafts, an art show, and a queer pet march. The organizers had many members of their group volunteer their time to become captains of every aspect of the event and help put together GayRidge Pride.
From their “Summer Strut” during the last year’s Bay Ridge Summer Stroll on Third Avenue to a Pumpkin Carving/Decorating Contest last October, in which Councilman Brannan served as one of the judges, GayRidge has been finding new ways to bring the community together. It started as a Facebook group a few years ago and in the past year, their membership has tripled.
I spoke with one of GayRidge’s Co-admins, Mother McKenzie, who identifies as a trans womxn. She explained the growth of their volunteer queer community group and that she and her Co-admin Laura Albert “want to expand the leadership circle.” McKenzie said, “We are always looking for new ways to find and connect with our community.”
Last weekend, after flyering around Bay Ridge, which included flyers for the June 5 Pride event that local community members had helped translate into Arabic, Mandarin, and Spanish, in addition to the English version, McKenzie said that every interaction with local Bay Ridge shops was positive and each establishment they went to was happy to display a flyer in their window. She added, “You don’t get to choose your community. I live in Bay Ridge, and I don’t get to pick and choose this one or that one. They are all my community.”
During these times when things are so polarized, as we gradually emerge from two years of pandemic life, it is important for all communities within our local community to reconnect, and to make new connections. GayRidge Pride will bring members of the queer community together, along with allies from Southern Brooklyn, to celebrate people being who they are and having a great time doing it.
The event has begun to garner a lot of attention. Councilman Brannan and Senator Gounardes have been promoting GayRidge Pride and encouraging the community to come out and enjoy themselves on Pride Hill June 5. A representative from Governor Hochul’s office is expected be on hand to say a few words on behalf of the Governor. Loretta Andro Chung and Sarah Hallonquist, the makers of Brooklyn-based Dyke Beer, which was born out of their activism work, will also be in attendance and will be speaking.
Bay Ridge and all of Southern Brooklyn has such a vibrant queer community and it will be great to see it on display in Owl’s Head Park, full of positivity and community. I will be there with my wife and kids and am hoping to see lots of people there laughing, playing cornhole, and enjoying live music.
Co-admins Laura Albert and Mother McKenzie, as well as all the GayRidge event captains who have volunteered their time, effort, and skills to coordinate GayRidge Pride, deserve a lot of credit. They all deserve to be very proud of what they have created. But all of us who call this community home, also get to be proud of this Pride.
