Colorado Black Pride 2023

by Ray Manzari

Starting in 2021, Colorado community members and activists felt the need for a Pride celebration that focuses on the state’s Black community and the colorful history of queer rights. Thus, Colorado Black Pride was born. Held during the weekend leading up to Juneteenth, Black Pride features events and entertainment that highlight Black excellence within the community.

“The reason why we have pride is because of folks of color. The first pride was a riot,” says Youth Seen Executive Director and co-founder of Black Pride, Dr. Tara Jae.

“When it comes to Black Pride, it’s really the celebration of Black LGBTQ folks because, as much as we want to pretend or say that our marginalized group of folks are inclusive, we're still working on some racism issues.”

Black Pride will kick off its festivities in the beginning of June with a joint feature presentation with Denver Filmfest of a sci-fi comedy with an all-Black cast. The official start of Black Pride weekend will be on Thursday, June 15 and will go until Sunday, June 18. The scheduled events for that weekend are as follows:

Thursday, June 15

Cannabis Bingo @ Jed’s Mile High Smoke Shop

Friday, June 16

Black Excellence Gala @ Denver Botanical Gardens

Saturday, June 17:

Zara and the Chocolate Factory Drag Show @ X Bar

Sunday, June 18

Black Pride Cookout (family friendly event) @ Reel Works

Monday, June 19

Juneteenth

While everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend these events, non-Black attendees should remind themselves that this weekend is largely for Black LGBTQ folk’s voices to be heard.

“A big part of Black Pride is, you know, so often our voices go unheard. It's only during this week that we actually really get a megaphone, right?” Dr. Tara Jae tells OFM. “It's really structuring the week in a way of what could this look like if it was year-round and our voices were heard and respected year-round.”

The importance of saving space specifically for Black LGBTQ members is imperative. As Dr. Jae pointed out, there would be no pride without the Black community leaders making a stand at Stonewall. There would be no gay liberation movement without the civil rights movement that came before it. Educating ourselves about not only queer history, but Black history, better serves the LGBTQ community at large to build more solidarity when fighting means of oppression.

Through previous years, Denver Pridefest used to fall on or around the weekend of June 19, also known as Juneteenth, which celebrates the day that the last bastion of slaves were made aware of their freedom. Overshadowing such a day while not acknowledging the Black historical figures who secured the rights, we often take for granted does a monumental disservice to the entire community. Thus, the event made the decision to move to the following weekend instead.

“Black Pride is, fundamentally, fellowship with folks; it's being able to connect with people. It's suicide prevention. People have the ability to engage and connect because as much as we're out and about and we're in the world, we still need to acknowledge that we were separated from each other and from our community for quite some time and that we're still all healing from that,” says Dr. Tara Jae on the importance of building back community post-pandemic.