As speakers blasted Chappell Roan and Olivia Newton-John, more than 50 people danced under colourful lights and rainbow decorations at a small Christian chapel within St. Andrew’s Wesley United Church in downtown Vancouver.
Two LGBTQ groups in the church, Lavender Bunch and Word is Out, have come together for a celebratory event to mark Pride Month and honour the 1969 Stonewall Uprising. The 19-plus Queer Prom on June 21 was created to provide LGBTQ people with an opportunity to rewrite their adolescence and celebrate who they are with pride and joy.
Karis Dimas-Lehndorf, one of the event’s organizers, says the chaos and confusion of being a teenager “was really hard.”
For many young LGBTQ people, “being out or being authentic isn’t a safe thing to do,” Dimas-Lehndorf says, “so there’s things that you don’t get to participate in, or that you have to present falsely to participate in.”
On June 28, 1969, a violent police raid at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Manhattan, sparked an uprising that became a pivotal moment in the fight for gay rights, and eventually led to the establishment of June as Pride Month.
Dimas-Lehndorf says although it’s important to acknowledge the history, “it’s exciting to make space for queer joy community, and the ability to reclaim personal milestones.”