Pride Month 2021: See What’s Planned In Waukesha

WAUKESHA, WI — As parades, celebrations and parties for Pride Month 2021 are held all over the country this June, people in and near Waukesha are planning and holding gay pride events of their own.

Pride Month celebrations in Waukesha and nearby include:

June 24-LGBT June Meeting, 151 E Saint Paul Ave, Waukesha at 6:30 p.m.. Wear a mask.

Here are nearby events:

June 12- History Unhidden: Milwaukee's LGBTQ Heritage Tour: Jane's Walk MKE and the Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project are holding a free and public walking tour to explore the ruins of Milwaukee's first and second "gayborhoods." Michail Takach, historian and curator of the Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project, will lead the walk. The event will take place at 2 p.m. at 400 N. Plankinton Ave., Milwaukee, WI.

June 13- March with PRIDE for #Blacklivesmatter Anniversary Celebration: Entertainer and activist Montell Ross is hosting a March with Pride event in the afternoon. The march will be followed up with a community block party, drag show, vendors and a food truck. Participants will meet at the general admissions gate of the Henry Maijer Festival Park (200 N. Harbor Dr., Milwaukee, WI) at 2 p.m.

June 14- Pride Night at Milwaukee Brewers: The Milwaukee Brewers are hosting their third annual Pride Night at American Family Field. The Brewers will be playing against the Cincinnati Reds that night at 7 p.m. at 1 Brewers Way, Milwaukee, WI.

June 14- Monday Matinee at This Is It: A different movie will be shown every Monday night at This Is It (418 E. Wells St.) this summer. Movie starts at 5:30 p.m., karaoke at 9 p.m.
June 17- PRIDE Meal and Movie Night: The Corner House - Lutheran Campus Ministry at UWM will serve rainbow pasta and hold a showing of "But I'm A Cheerleader" at 3074 N. Maryland Ave.

June 18- Pride Celebration and COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic: The Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin is offering a Pride celebration and COVID-19 vaccination clinic for people ages 12 and up at 1 p.m. at the Froedtert McKinley Health Center at 1271 N 6th St, Milwaukee, WI. Walk-ins will be available that day, but the organizers encourage patients to call in and schedule their appointment.
June 18- MKE LGBT Community Center Block Party: The Milwaukee LGBT Community Center invites people to play a game of loteria at its new location at 315 W Court St, Milwaukee, WI. The event starts at 6 p.m.
June 19- Drag Queen Story Hour @ Colectivo Humboldt: Local queen Dora Diamond will read progressive titles to kids at 10:30 a.m. at the Colectivo at 2999 N. Humboldt Blvd.
June 24- Join a discussion hosted by Milwaukee Film Festival on Aurthur J. Bressan Jr.'s Queer Cinema Legacy. Bressan was a pioneer in producing films on pride and made the first American film that confronted the AIDS epidemic. The event will be held online.
June 25- ###/strongexplore LGBTQ+ people's experiences in the workplace and how the community is shaping business and non-profit sectors. The event will be held online.

Pride Month spotlights LGBTQ+ people, their influence and the challenges they face. June was chosen in recognition of the 1969 Stonewall riots, when police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City’s Greenwich Village neighborhood.

The raid led to a riot among patrons and local residents, with days of protests and violent clashes with police. The Stonewall riots ultimately sparked a gay rights movement nationally and globally, according to the Library of Congress.

The Pride celebration was originally dubbed “Gay Pride Day” and marked the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall riots with a parade in New York City.

The “day” soon grew to encompass a monthlong series of events in many American cities. It now includes millions of people across the world with parades, picnics, parties, workshops, symposia and concerts, the Library of Congress said.

New York City, where Pride Month began, has hosted an annual march to note its historical connection since 1984, with this year’s NYC Pride march set for June 27.

Several other big cities across the country hold similar annual events in late June. Chicago Pride 2021 will include a variety of events around the city this month, with the Chicago Pride Parade delayed until October due to the coronavirus pandemic. Houston Pride 2021 has also been delayed until the fall.

Virtual Pride events are being held all month, according to a University of Georgia list that includes many of them.

Police officers in Elgin, Illinois, a Chicago suburb, are wearing a Pride Month badge throughout June to show support for the LGBTQ+ community. In Arlington Heights, Illinois, another Chicago suburb, a Pride Month proclamation states that the village "cherishes the value and dignity of each person."

Read More On Patch: Illinois Police Officers Show Support With Pride Month Badge

More rural areas have also began marking June as Pride Month in recent years.

"Each summer, Pride is an opportunity to celebrate the diversity of identities, experiences and histories in the LGBTQ community and recognize all who have and continue to advocate for LGBTQ lives, rights and visibility," Rayne Parker, assistant director of the office of LGBTQ resources at the University of Kentucky, said in a news release.

"As with other recognition months, this is an opportunity to highlight LGBTQ pride and advocacy and should continue to be recognized all year long," Parker said.

Pride events worldwide in 2021 are accompanied by the unveiling of a new pride flag that was changed to include intersex people, Advocate.com and others have reported. Intersex people have bodies that fall outside the strict male/female binary, according to Planned Parenthood.

Patch Editor Emily Leayman contributed to this report.

Did we miss something? Patch hopes to be the absolute resource for pride events this summer: karen.pilarski@patch.com with any other Waukesha events.