Celebrate Pride Month with poetry, performances, pageantry and parades

San Antonio’s LGBTQ community promises a lively Pride Month with an event-filled June. 

The month honoring lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer communities had its origins the year after the Stonewall riots of 1969 when New Yorkers marched through Manhattan to commemorate the uprising.

The annual Pride parade in San Antonio honors that tradition, this year taking place June 24 after a day of events.

Want to see your event on the list? Send details to hello@sareport.org.

Esperanza Peace and Justice Center

But the celebrations begin at 4 p.m. on June 3, with Queer Voices at the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center. Billed as “A Queer And Trans Joy Pachanga,” the event kicks off with limpias — traditional Mexican spiritual cleansing rituals — by “cuir curanderas” Rebel Mariposa, Erika Casasola and Sophia Velasquez.

Poet performers Anel Flores and Chibbi Orduña will host a show beginning at 6 p.m. featuring DJs, drag and burlesque performers, and poetry.

Tickets can be ordered online for $5 “más o menos,” but organizers assure that no one will be turned away.

On June 23, enjoy a performance of Kingceañera, a drag revue of the quinceañera from the tío and tía perspective presented by Los MENtirosos, San Antonio’s Latine drag king troupe. Narrated by playwright Gacho Marx, a local quince DJ, the performance features solos, group numbers, a baile sorpresa and personal monologues.

Tickets for the 8 p.m. show are available for $8 online and $12 at the door.

East Side Pride

Also on June 3, WestCare Texas will host Pride On The Eastside from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Ella Austin Community Center. The free event featuring drag performances, music and health resources is intended to “decrease the stigma of HIV/AIDS in our community,” according to the San Antonio LGBT Chamber of Commerce website.

Dragula

Haus of X returns to Kunstler Brewing June 3 with a Pride-themed drag show hosted by Jez Extazy and featuring a dozen performers.

Among the drag queens, kings and things performing from 1-10 p.m. for a $5 cover charge will be San Antonio’s Miss Taint, and guest artist Xochi Mochi from the Boulet Brothers Dragula series on the Shudder horror network.

Get Fit

The morning of June 10, San Antonio Parks and Recreation presents the Get Fit SA Pride Hike & 5K at Pearsall Park.

The run begins at 8 a.m., with Zumba warm-ups before and a yoga cool-down afterward.

Free registration is available online. Participants will receive a free T-shirt commemorating the race.

River Parade

Visit San Antonio’s annual Bud Light Pride River Parade goes afloat June 10 after a noon-5 p.m. celebration at the Arneson River Theater, with live entertainment including the Live Oak Singers and Teatro Audaz.

The parade will traverse two locations: one float starting downtown from 4-5 p.m. and a second float on the Museum Reach from 7-8 p.m.

Bonham Exchange

June 10 at 7 p.m., the Bonham Exchange nightclub joins in the fun with the Mister/Miss/Mr./Ms. San Antonio Pride Pageant, encouraging first-time drag performers to take to the stage with experienced veterans. 

A Facebook post by pageant coordinator Matthew Flores announces that “We are looking for contestants who aren’t afraid to share their story, their pride and dedication to making a difference.” Participants will compete to win sashes to be worn during Pride Month.

At the Tobin

A slate of catchy popular songs is on the docket on June 15 at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts with the traveling musical show Pride Anthems.

The journey from the Stonewall Riots of 1969 through the present will be traced through hits by Donna Summer, Queen, George Michael, Madonna, Lady Gaga and others sung by Natalie Joy Johnson, Kevin Smith Kirkwood and Jon-Michael Reese.

Tickets start at $25, available through the Tobin Center’s website.

The Tobin Center’s Ghost Light Society for young professionals will host the June 18 OUT at The Tobin Pride Brunch, a fundraiser to benefit the Thrive Youth Center, a San Antonio nonprofit that provides resources and support for homeless LGBTQ youth.

The Tobin’s own executive chef Armando Lopez will craft a buffet, while drag queen Kristi Waters hosts performances by Queen Fantasia Wood, Violet S’Arbleu and special guest Coco Montrese from RuPaul’s Drag Race.

Ticket packages run from $35 to $200, attendees must be age 18 or over.

Night Out At The Zoo 

Pride San Antonio sponsor the San Antonio Zoo will hold its third annual Night Out at the Zoo on June 16 from 6-10 p.m.

At the family-friendly, all-ages, after-hours event, guests will enjoy a festive outdoor atmosphere with music and food among the zoo’s regular denizens. 

Early bird tickets for $15 and $20 general admission tickets are available through Eventbrite.

Phil Hardberger Park

Saturday, June 17, from 9-11 a.m., join the first-ever Pride Hike at Phil Hardberger Park. The two-mile path will take hikers through the park’s trails to the Robert L.B. Tobin Land Bridge, led by the park’s education coordinator David Jimenez.

The event is free and no registration is required. The first 50 hikers to arrive will receive free commemorative buttons.

Woodlawn Pointe

Woodlawn Pointe community center — home to various San Antonio LGBTQ organizations including Fiesta Youth, Living Positive San Antonio, Alamo City Wranglers, and Rainbow Seniors — will host Pride at the Pointe on June 17 from noon to 5 p.m. The free celebration features food, vendors, entertainment and an open house.

Two days later, learn to become a Pride documentarian and historian during a free two-day workshop presented by Andy Sacher, executive director of the nonprofit organization The Lavender Effect. The workshop will focus on training volunteers in how to produce documentary footage that tells the stories of San Antonio’s LGBTQ community as part of its Oral History Project.

The event will take place at Woodlawn Pointe, beginning with a reception and an LGBTQ history discussion on Monday, June 19, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

The Oral History Project workshop will continue on Tuesday, June 20, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

AARP will join Rainbow Seniors, a social club for LGBTQ community members who are over the age of 60, at Woodlawn Pointe on June 22 at 1 p.m. for an informational presentation addressing the unique issues of aging for members of the LGBTQ community and how family members and friends can positively impact the lives of loved ones.

Get Lit

The San Antonio Book Festival and Alamo Colleges District join Pride Month on June 22 at 7 p.m. with the festival’s latest Get Lit event, featuring author John Paul Brammer in conversation with San Antonio personality Michael Quintanilla.

Brammer’s 2021 memoir ¡Hola Papi! How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Life Lessons began as a Grindr advice column and has won fans including Shea Serrano and David Sedaris. The book covers Brammer’s life growing up biracial in middle America and his transformation into a popular advice columnist known as the “Chicano Carrie Bradshaw” of his generation.

The free event at the Scobee Planetarium kicks off with a drag performance by local drag queen Kristi Waters.

Block Party at Blue Star

Businesses at Blue Star Arts Complex are throwing a free block party to celebrate Pride on Saturday, June 24, from 6-11 p.m.

Brick will be hosting more than 20 vintage vendors — including Green Thumb Gal, Tejas Glass and Five of Pentacles — and drag and burlesque performances by Marie Risque, Jose Onyx, Duva Lynn, Miss Taint, Avery N. Andrews, Sarah Tonein, Kylie Gorgeous Dlux, Stella Belle, Rosa Cavalera and Devonna St. James.

Attendees are also invited to dine at local restaurants, browse vintage shops and explore galleries in the Blue Star Arts Complex.

Bigger Than Texas

Is anything bigger than Texas? Pride San Antonio proudly declares its presence in the Lone Star State with its annual Pride Bigger Than Texas Festival on June 24. Festival tickets range from $12 to $15 and are available for pre-sale online.

The “Just Say Gay” themed festival features a full day of events beginning at 11 a.m. in Crockett Park, with food vendors, performers and a health fair.

Love will coalesce at 3 p.m. with the ninth annual Pride Mass Wedding Ceremony. Anyone who wants to share vows with their intended can marry in a festive public setting. Pre-registration is required. 

Things really get into stride at 8:30 p.m. with the Krystal Kelly Running of the Queens High Heel Race, hosted by Eryca Daniels. Intrepid contestants must sign a liability waiver but can win prizes including a Bonham Exchange VIP pass and a gift card from Metropawlitan Grooming.

The daylong celebration culminates with the Pride Bigger Than Texas Night Parade at 9 p.m. The free parade runs for nine blocks down North Main Avenue beginning at West Dewey Place. Organizers stipulate that coolers, ice chests, and food and drinks are permitted along the parade route only.

Culture Commons

During the exhibition Between Yesterday & Tomorrow: Perspectives from Black Contemporary Artists of San Antonio at the Culture Commons gallery, the City of San Antonio celebrates Pride Month with “Comfortable in Our Skin,”  an event featuring drag performances by The Queen Fantasia and Jazmine Diamond Fillups, with DJ D’Andrea Harkless.

The June 28 event begins at 6:30 p.m. and is free and open to adults aged 18 and over.