WATCH: All the best bits of the Queerty Pride50 party in New York

The annual Queerty Pride50 gathering in Manhattan has quickly grown into one of the highlights of the New York City Pride season.

An East Coast counterpoint to our glamor-packed Queerties ceremony in Los Angeles each March — this year’s event, the sixth, took place June 12th at Chelsea Piers.

Every year, Queerty chooses 50 noteworthy LGBTQ+ names. These are people who have inspired, entertained, or otherwise made us proud in the previous 12 months.

They range from established stars to up-and-coming grassroots activists. Across Pride Month, profiles of each Pride50 honoree appear on the site. The Queerty Pride50 in NYC gathering brings as many of them as possible together under one roof, along with other invited guests.

Queerty’s own entertainment editor, Cameron Scheetz, MC’ed this year’s event. Joining him on hosting duties was Kandy Muse, runner-up on the 13th season of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Muse kicked off the evening with an energetic rendition of her new single. Also performing on the night was Grammy-nominated artist Mykal Kilgore. Ty Sunderland provided the DJ set.

“I was a blast from start to finish,” Scheetz said afterward. “I think attendance was greater than anyone could’ve imagined, the entire venue was filled with laughter and love—not to mention some killers looks. For a rainy Monday evening, New York City really turned out!”

Everyone agrees Pride Season feels a little different this year. Following sustained attacks on the LGBTQ+ community by some lawmakers, including drag bans and canceled Pride events in states such as Florida, there’s a sense we’re trying to be silenced.

It makes it all the more important to celebrate those voices within the community who are making a difference. That’s what the Queerty Pride50—and its associated gathering—is all about. It’s a party, but there’s a political edge — something inherent to Pride celebrations since they began over 50 years ago.

Check out some of the video highlights below.

Sweet like Kandy

Queerty’s Cameron Scheetz and Kandy Muse welcomed the attendees and Muse reminded everyone why she’s been dubbed the “lip sync assassin assassin.” She also has a few serious words about why “we need Pride more than ever.” Her advice to right-wing anti-LGBTQ+ lawmakers? “They need to find their inner Heidi N Closet and quit!”

Baring his soul

Dancer and choreographer Jerry Mitchell is on a roll. Besides his work in the world of dance, he also founded the annual Broadway Bares extravaganza, which has raised over $25 million for HIV-related causes over the last 30 years.

On June 11, Mitchell was awarded his third Tony Award. The next night, he attended the Queerty Pride50 to collect one of two special honors on the night.

Mitchell scooped this year’s Pride Icon Award. He gave an impassioned speech about how Broadway Bares came about when he and seven other dancers performed a strip routine at Splash Bar back in the early 1990s. The most recent event, at Hammerstein Ballroom last week, raised just under $1.9 million.

“We’re all catalysts for change”

The other award presentation on the night went to Michael Urie. The actor (Ugly Betty, Shrinking, Single All The Way) was honored with the Catalyst Award.

“When I was growing up, I didn’t know where I belonged,” Urie told the crowd. “I didn’t know to what community I belonged. And it wasn’t until I found this community that I realized this is the greatest community in the whole world.”

He went on to joke that the Catalyst Award is probably “halfway to Lifetime achievement, and I expect that in about 20 years,” before adding, “We’re all catalysts. Every day that we go out into the world and we are who we are, we are catalysts for change, for progress.”

Who was there?

Besides the action on stage, the Queerty Pride50 wouldn’t rock as much as it does without its fabulous attendees. Dance music icons such as Crystal Waters mingled with queer musicians such as Rod Thomas (Bright Light Bright Light). Pride50 honorees who attended included activist Alex Mohajer, Broadway rising star Justin David Sullivan, dancer Harper Watters, RPDR queen Rosé, and model and illustrator Thaddeus Coates, among many others. Check out a brief recap below.

Red carpet queer joy

What gives you “queer joy”? That was the question we had for everyone who showed up for the Queerty Pride50 red carpet. Providing answers were the likes of Tomás Matos, Michael Urie, Dewayne Perkins, Sophie B. Hawkins and others.

Related:

Pride50

Pride50 celebrates 50 extraordinary LGBTQ+ personalities who have made an impact and inspired us in the last year. Join us as we celebrate these remarkable individuals.

Check out some of the delicious highlights from the latest ‘Broadway Bares’ extravaganza

The annual fundraiser raised over $ 1.8 million for HIV-related causes.