How To Celebrate June Pride Month In Metro Detroit

METRO DETROIT — Pride Month starts Thursday and continues through June, with several ways in Metro Detroit to participate in the celebration of LGBTQ culture, rights and identity.

Among them is the Motor City Pride Festival, which will happen at 1 p.m. on June 10 and 11 at Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit.

Other events include:

• The Naked Party! at 215 W Nine Mile Rd. in Ferndale on June 17 from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.
• Summer Night Party 2023 at 13837 Conant St. in Hamtramck on July 1 and 2 from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.
• Saturday Night Dance Party at 25333 Van Dyke Avenue Center Line on June 3 from 8 to 11 p.m.
• Eastside Queer Mixer at 4401 Conner Street Detroit on June 8 from 6 to 9:30 p.m.
• Girls Just Wanna Have Fun: Lesbian Social Block Party at The Belt Detroit on June 11 from 4 to 10 p.m.

Pride Month occurs during June in deference to the Stonewall Uprising, a tipping point in the struggle for equality among people who identify as LGBTQ. New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar, in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969. Such raids were common, but patrons fought back, resulting in days of violent clashes across Greenwich village.

The observance started as Gay Pride Day on the last Sunday in June, but soon grew to the point that June calendars are packed with pride parades, parties, workshops, symposiums and concerts across the nation and around the world.

In Michigan, about four percent of the population — or 373,000 people — identify as LGBTQ, according to the Movement Advance Project, which tracks legislation targets. They represent five percent of Michigan's workforce, or 229,000 people.

The organization gives Michigan 21.5 points out of a possible 43.5 points. Our state received 8.75 points out of a possible 20 for sexual orientation policy and 12.75 points out of a possible 23 for gender policy. The overall ranking was graded “FAIR.”

Pride Month 2023 occurs amid a historic surge in bills targeting LGBTQ rights, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. Nearly 500 pieces of legislation nationwide have been filed in state legislatures this year, according to the ACLU tracking.

The ACLU says it is tracking eight anti-LGBTQ bills that have passed the Michigan House of Representatives. You can read about them here.

“LGBTQ people are under fire, unlike possibly ever before and across virtually every aspect of our lives,” Logan S. Casey, a senior researcher at Movement Advancement Project, told The Washington Post in April. “This is part of a very clear and identifiable national effort in state legislatures that is and has been going on for years — and it’s really culminating this year.”