Living Out Loud with Darian

The city of Atlanta welcomed an estimated 60,000 people to it's 14th annual Black Gay Pride over Labor Day weekend. Atlanta is home to the largest Black Gay Pride celebration in the world and participants traveled from all over the U.S. to party, attend workshops, and unite with other LGBT brothers and sisters over the course of 6 days. Kudos to the board of directors at In The Life Atlanta for a well organized and action packed event. I do believe there was something for everyone to attend whether or not you're into the party scene that most pride events are famous for .

Unfortunately, my weekend didn't go as planned and I missed a lot of the events that were on the top of my list, specifically the "State of Black Gay America Summit". I had a true blonde moment and went to the wrong hotel. So here's a word of advice for next year, read all of the information thoroughly for each event because they're not all held at the host hotel.

But I did attend the official pride worship service at The Vision Church of Atlanta on Sunday and Piedmont Park later on that evening. Piedmont Park on Sundays has been the place where black gays and lesbians have gathered for years and this past weekend we not only gathered but we dominated the park! Imagine looking around you and all you can see for miles is a huge sea of people that look like you and share some of the same life experiences, it's truly overwhelming in the best way.

I was able to capture some video footage of the J-Sette competition and it's quite entertaining. I'm not a huge fan of J'Sett-ing (is that even a word?) and I've written about it before here , but I realized it brings people together and forms bonds between the men who perform in this subculture, much like stepping does for greek organizations.

I closed out Pride on Monday by participating in the march from the MLK Center to the state capitol. This was by far the most liberating event I attended. Walking in the scorching Atlanta sun shouting "I'm Black, I'm Out and I'm Proud''! was life affirming and reminiscent of the civil rights movement, a different struggle, but a struggle I identify with nonetheless.

If you didn't make it to ATL Pride this year make sure you go ahead and plan on being in the mix next year, you won't be dissapointed because it just keeps getting better and better. Check out highlights from Piedmont Park and the march in the youtube video below.

Labels: Pride

It's almost hard to believe that next week will mark the 11th anniversary of Atlanta Black Gay Pride. In 2004 In The Life Atlanta, sponsors of the annual event , hosted the largest Black Pride celebration in the world when over 10,000 LGBT people flocked to Atlanta from all over the country on Labor Day weekend, a distinction they still hold to this day.

Like most Pride events there will be more than a few parties and clubs to attend during the six days of scheduled events from August 29-September 03. But what attracts me to Pride(besides the gorgeous men) is ITLA's effort to educate, empower, and unite our brothers and sisters through workshops, town hall meetings, film festivals, and worship services. There really is a little bit for everyone. I experienced Pride for the very first time last year and I was blown away by how many people I met whose experiences mirrored my own. Have you ever attended Pride and for once you didn't feel like a minority three times over, black, male, and gay? Although the feeling may only be temporary, it's still amazing and I highly recommend the experience!

Highlights of this year's pride events include a special concert by the queen of soul Aretha Franklin, a conversation with Jonathan Plummer, an LGBT film festival, and dozens of exciting workshops on issues relevant to the black LGBT community.You can get a complete list of scheduled events here .

One event that has been brought to my attention is a special cabaret night that is not to be missed sponsored by PHYRE!. They will be hosting a special screening of Christopher Street, a new black gay series from creator Dwight O'Neal from New York along with musicians, spoken word artists, and female impersonators. In my opinion this is a wonderful alternative to the clubs. This event is happening on September 2nd from 5pm-10pm. Click here for additional details.

This is only the beginning, look out for full coverage of Pride along with a few surprise interviews next week.

Labels: Pride

Ok..so I have the weekend off and I thought I'd made up my mind that I wasn't going to New York this weekend for Pride but now I think I'm changing my mind. It just doesn't make any sense for me not to go when I can fly for free and Amerie is going to be performing on Saturday night. Granted she's not Janet but her music makes me wanna dance, let me see you try an sit still when the dj plays "One Thing" ...lol. I'm sure you're asking yourself what made me change my mind, sadly I think it was the cover of Next Magazine(seen above). What can I say, I have a weakness for beautiful black men! Primarily for my boyfriend, let me just put that out there because I know he reads this blog, but I'm not blind ! So LT it looks like you may get your wish after all but then again maybe not. Check back on Monday to find out if I made it to the big apple.

Labels: Pride