Sarah Toce
Seattle Pride, organizers of the 2021 virtual LGBTQIA+ Pride event (11 a.m. – 5 p.m. on June 26 & 27) has announced the complete stage schedule for the two-day celebration, featuring a diverse array of speakers, performers, activities and activism reflecting this year’s theme Resilience.
This year’s musical headliner is the Queen of Bounce music, Big Freedia (featured in Beyoncé’s Grammy-winning single “Formation” and Drake’s “Nice For What.”). The program also includes virtual musical performances from special guest Mary Lambert (from Macklemore’s “Same Love” and her Billboard charting single “Secrets”), soul-baring emotionally lurid pop-rock musician Perfume Genius, and singer/songwriter and YouTube sensation mxmtoon; as well as nationally recognized speakers including horror film aficionado Isabella Von Ghoul’s discussion Trans Identities in Horror Films, active duty Army Soldier Dr. Ella Nunley-Spaights speaking about Challenges of Lesbian Seniors in the Army, and Seeing Me with burlesque performer Miss Violet DeVille – Oh! Oh! I KNOW! A Quiz Show hosted by Betty Wetter, Bedroom Bingo hosted by Cookie Couture, plus lots of family friendly fare.
Saturday, June 26 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
The virtual doors will open at 10:45 a.m. on Saturday with DJ dark_wiley and Seattle Pride’s programming will kick off with two tracks — one track will be an all-day livestream hosted by Betty Wetter, and a second track will feature 30-minute and hour-long pre-recorded sessions with speakers from organizations such as OutRight International’s Galvanizing a Global Movement to End “Conversion Therapy”, GenPride’s A Story of LGBTQ Resilience: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, Seattle Aces and Aros’ Aro/Ace, and You Should Know, and many more. The morning will begin with kid-friendly programming including and Everyone Can Do Science with Romi and storytime with Cookie Couture.
Other highlights include Oh! Oh! I KNOW! A Quiz Show and Bedroom Bingo segments throughout the day starring special guests, as well as Making a Manila: Seattle’s Next Drag Diva, in which Aleksa Manila mentors a new drag queen for their very first debut.
The jam-packed day of LGBTQIA+ fun also showcases virtual musical performances from headliner Big Freedia, special guest Mary Lambert, as well as from Perfume Genius and mxmtoon.
Sunday, June 27 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Sunday’s programming will continue the weekend fun with two new tracks, one starting the day off with kid-friendly programming including story time with Cookie Couture and the Delta Dental of Washington Tooth Fairy. The show will also feature additional sessions including Isabella Von Ghoul’s discussion Trans Identities in Horror Films and Miss Violet DeVille’s Seeing Me. The second track will feature rebroadcasts of Seattle Pride’s Pride Speaks! speaker series covering a range of LGBTQIA+ topics including homelessness, healthcare, business, and parenting.
Performance highlights of day two will include Simone Pin, Seattle Ladies Choir, Beauty Boiz, CarLarans, and SassyBlack.
Free advance registration is required at SeattlePride.org/VirtualPride.
Seattle Pride’s events are made possible with generous support from presenting partners Alaska Airlines, Facebook and T-Mobile, from Seattle Pride’s Official TV Partner, KIRO 7 and radio partners C89.5 FM, Hubbard Radio Seattle stations, and KNKX, as well as many other corporate and community partners.
The two-day online event will also feature interactive community-led Sessions where attendees can join virtual rooms on or off video to share knowledge, play games, show off their pets, and decompress in one of our Spoon Rooms; one-on-one randomized video chats to meet fellow attendees in Friend Match; and an interactive virtual booth area which allows attendees to visit a wide variety of local vendors, hear from elected officials and political candidates, check out other LGBTQIA+-supporting businesses, and learn more about what other nonprofit and community organizations are doing to further LGBTQIA+ rights in the community.
Seattle Pride recently announced All Together Now, an in-person event scheduled for October 9 and 10, leading into National Coming Out Day. For the latest updates, follow Seattle Pride on Instagram and Facebook at @SeattlePride.
For more information and to view the weekend’s complete program schedule of featured speakers, performers and more, visit SeattlePride.org.
