E4P Goes To...NYC Pride
Or, more accurately, E4P Went to a Trixie Mattel Concert and Then a Gay Bar and Skipped the Parade Because of the Heat and the Rain
What a weird thing it is to introduce one of the silliest and happiest pieces I’ve ever published here on E4P at a time when I candidly could not be more scared about the future. If I was a better writer or a more apt political mind, I would craft a really powerful line about progress and fighting back in the face of the calculated erosion of our democracy but I’m me so instead, I’m going to tell you about why I was crying on the M15 bus yesterday.
Picture me hungover and an hour and a half late, immediately post-housing a gluten free bagel with scallion cream cheese. While sat next to an iPad kid, I became a bit overcome with emotion thinking about how this was my first NYC Pride with my friends, having gratefully—gratefully—been out of town for the cursed Planet Pride of 2022. I felt in earnest just how lucky I am to love and to be loved by these amazing people, to be drunk with them for nearly 60 hours straight, to be in their homes and their lives and their futures.
I think that’s why I’m so shaken up by today’s Supreme Court decision: with it comes the realization that even in the midst of celebrations, summer, and the Paul Mescal renaissance I’ve been dreaming of, there is still more resisting to do and more liberation to fight for. I’m not naive enough that I didn’t see this coming, but the juxtaposition of the joy that filled this weekend with a very proactive threat to its existance in the form of a second Trump presidency was jarring enough that it makes pieces like today’s feel essential even in its silliness.
With that, this is what you came for: my second attempt at replicating Curbed’s The Look Book series, except this time written while drunk and at NYC Pride.
Can you give me your best corporate rainbow-washed pride greeting?
Hannah: We’re happy to welcome employees of every identification…..but only for one more week.
Riley: Hi gay!!! We are sashaying into deals!! Come see our tiny tiny tiny pride section in store with a white t-shirt with a pride flag on it and a little headband. That is all—in all shapes and sizes. Target loves gay people. God bless America, and God bless Target.
David: 🍆🍑 or ✌🏽👅—we don’t care which emojis you prefer! Love is love!
Are you everywhere? Are you so Julia?
Blair: I’m soooo Julia.
Skylar: Yeah! I really am so Julia.
Steven: Yes!!! 1000%
What’s your favorite to-do on the gay agenda?
Skylar: *gestures to her shirt which has two scissors scissoring* And crafting.
Riley: On the gay agenda? Dance.
Zion: Oh—tequila shots!!!
David: Wearing my shortest shorts and day drinking on a rooftop.
Manny: I like getting fruity little drinks cause I can’t shoot the whiskey. My second fav is making sure he’s thinking about me, isn’t that sweet? That that me espresso 🫶🏽
What’s the last thing that you looked at and went, “That’s mother”?
Riley: *points to Liz*
Dani: Actually when I was watching a TikTok of Jojo Siwa this morning, I said, “Fuck you respectfully.“ I don’t want to say Jojo Siwa is mother but…that’s my answer.
Manny: I came back home to Missouri and my dad was blasting Chappell Roan on the boat.
Liz: Trixie putting on Crocs onstage mid-DJ set.
What’s your favorite gay test?
Christian: Trixie and Katya.
Skylar: What to do with a poppers bottle.
Zion: “Are you wearing that?”
Marry fuck kill: Julianne Moore, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway?
Jackson: Marry Anne, fuck Cate, kill Julianne—that’s final.
Steven: Marry Cate, kill Anne, fuck Julianne.
Alex: Marry Julianne Moore because of her talent and brain (I bet she’d have the best conversations), kill Cate because of what she named her one kid after (I’m sorry queen), and fuck Anne Hathaway because, well, let me ask the audience.
What internet reference encapsulates gay culture to you?
Skylar: The “go on girl, give us nothing” comment under the video of Dua Lipa.
Christian: “Go piss girl”…the Gossip Girl meme.
Aaron: I would have to say rainbows, lots of colors.
Alex: Honestly, “Well yes.” 😭 the way Quinta explains it on Hot Ones captures its brilliance.
Hannah: Oooh how about when a new song comes out and people say, “Thank g-d Glee isn’t on anymore,” or “RIP Kurt Hummel you would have loved to sing ‘Pink Pony Club.’” That’s my queer theatre girlie response for you.
What is the number one thing / who is the number one person you credit with advancing LGBTQIA+ rights?
Christian: I’m gonna have to put it on a generation—Gen Z. I say Gen Z because we saw a lot of hatred toward our community in past generations, and I think the people who raised us raised us with the ideology of just loving who you love and accepting everyone as they come, and we are the ones who are able to advance that and make it normal. In earlier generations, it felt less normal and more just “accepted” and we’re the ones who made it the norm. Shoutout to everyone who has come before us.
Steven: A friend of mine—Erica.
Alex: Marsha P. Johnson forever. And trans women / the dolls in general are the most fearless and most scrutinized yet they continue to pave the way.
Hannah: Will & Grace and Modern Family come to mind as far as normalizing LGBTQIA+ narratives in mainstream/prime-time media with a broad audience.
For a dollar, can you name a historic queer person?
Liz: I can picture her….Martha…I’m kind of drunk right now, I’m sorry!!!! Marsha P. Johnson!!!!!!
Dani: RuPaul. Hmm….well…George Washington….that’s a known thing right?
Blair: Roy Cohn ;)
Thank you to everyone who participated in today’s piece and listened to me rant at the top!!! Thank you as well to Trixie Mattel, Katya by the transitive property, and, coming from a place of love and light, Jojo Siwa!!
