Happy Pride, St. Louis!

This has been an especially trying year for the LGBTQIA+ community. Yet I have been inspired every day by your advocacy, your stories, and your visibility as you pushed back against lawmakers who want to govern our bodies. 

I’ll say it again; if Jefferson City lawmakers don’t want to experience the vibrancy and beauty of St. Louis’ LGBTQIA+ community, they can stay home. 

While we stand on the shoulders of the groundbreaking activists who got us to where we are today, let’s not forget that the work we do today lays a foundation for the next generation to be even more visible, liberated, and free to be themselves. This year I was proud to work with advocates to strengthen our gender-affirming hiring practices, recreation programs, economic development, and government buildings.

The City of St. Louis stands with you against hatred and bigotry, and I strive every day to make St. Louis a city where you can thrive no matter your skin color, who you love, how you identify, or how you express yourself. 

I look forward to celebrating with you this year.

With love,

Tishaura O. Jones 

Mayor, City of St. Louis

St. Louis Pride Festival Map

PrideFest 2023: Diversity Creates Community

Saturday, June 24 11-7 

Sunday, June 25 11-6

Grand Pride Parade Map

2023 Grand Pride Parade

12 Noon

Down Market St starting at 8th and Market

Hands Across Market event starts at 11:15 at the Parade Emcee Booth

Learn about Pride St. Louis Royalty

The Pride St. Louis Royal Court strives to uplift and celebrate the diversity in our community. Since 1992 with the crowning of Nicole Richards, PrideSTL has hosted the annual Royalty pageant to crown the array of drag and bio performers. 

In 2006, PrideSTL added a new category for King of Pride, followed by Mr. Pride and Ms. Pride in 2007. This year, PrideSTL added a new category for Mx. Pride, to celebrate the non-bianary and gender non-conforming performers in our community, crowning Fender Bender.

Honoring the performers in our community is essential to the celebration of Pride. The art of drag goes back generations and drag performers have been at the forefront of many movements for the LGBTQIA+ and local communities.

While drag evolves and changes through history, one core concept remains: community. All drag artist adapt and make a statement. Drag is inherently political. 

Drag contains many elements to create multi-faceted artist. Some performers lip sync, some refine their make-up skills and fashion, some do comedy, and others dedicate their art solely for queer visibility. Through the art of drag, performers create a welcome space for our community.

PrideSTL’s Royal Court helps make Pride what it is, a celebration of community. 

We celebrate the art and the artist. We celebrate the triumphs and fight that continues today for drag artist to perform. By doing drag, these artist show the importance of our community.

We are fortunate to have artist who believe in celebrating and uplifting our community. Ensuring that queer and trans voices are heard. And always having Pride.

Mx. Pride - Fender Bender

Mr. Pride - Tyson Cameron

Ms. Pride - Moxie Contin

King of Pride - Oliver Hugh

Queen of Pride - Analyse Thropic

Artist Bios

Kat Graham

Kat Graham is an actress, singer, dancer and producer. Working across a variety of genres in film, television and music, she is one of most accomplished and versatile young talents working today.

Graham rose to fame in her early 20s becoming a teen idol on the hit TV show The Vampire Diaries. Graham’s recent films include the critically acclaimed Cut Throat City as well as the NAACP nominated Emperor. With over 100 film and television credits to her name by age 30, Graham also became a fashion icon known for her chameleon-esque and ever changing and evolving style. 

Graham made her television debut in 2002 on Disney Channel’s popular teen comedy Lizzie McGuire. She also appeared on a number of hit television shows for Disney, Fox, CBS and ABC. Other notable film credits include 17 Again, The Roommate, Addicted, and the dance film Honey 2.

Known for pioneering diversity, inclusion and humanitarian efforts that focus on the refugee crisis and human rights, Graham became a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for the Refugee Agency (UNHCR), as well as an Ambassador for Rotary International, a council member for GLAAD, and crowned African Princess of Mai-Ndombe, Congo for her humanitarian work in Africa. Her PSA for Black Lives Matter garnered her an Emmy nomination for best short.

Her debut full length album Roxbury Drive included her single Secrets Ft. Babyface. Graham, who has a degree in recording engineering, produced the 90s-inspired album with Jean-Yves “Jeeve” Ducornet and co-wrote the entire album with Babyface. She released her second album, Love Music Funk Magic, in 2017 which she worked on with collaborators Babyface and Prince.

Earlier this year, Graham was the first entertainer to release her album – Toro Gato – as an NFT, becoming the first artist in history to use the platform to release an album exclusively. WIth Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, in which she also made history as playing the first African-American April O’Neil, the thriller Heatwave as well as the indie feature Collide.

Graham’s next release includes Witness, a documentary she executive produced and hosted for TIME Studios focusing on the international refugee crisis, is slated for 2023.

Betty Who

To understand where Betty Who currently stands in her career, it’s best to imagine her as she often stood as a kid: solo, in front of the bedroom mirror, belting out hits, dancing like everyone’s watching. Because as the Australian pop queen walked away from her record deal and into her first independent album, she had a single mandate: “I am going to be the most me I can be.” 

Joy has always been in the music, but for Betty herself the feeling had faded. “I didn’t understand how damaging it was to feel like I was never living up to expectation,” she says of her time on a major label. 

The world got a taste of that with Betty’s first independent single “Ignore Me,” an uplifting ode to moving on set to warm, indie-tinged electropop. Likewise, synth-streaked dance cut “I Remember” takes on something sad—the dissonance that can bubble up in a relationship—and finds the sweetness therein as Betty coos, “I don’t want perfect, I want you.” 

These songs spilled out with a similar assuredness—among them, early teaser “Taste,” which Betty has described as “a little rock ‘n’ roll with just a touch of vampire fetish,” and Betty’s first official single, the achingly up-close, acoustic-powered “Between You & Me.” The process began in sessions between runs of her famously vibrant, intensely choreographed tour. She’d planned to write more when she came off the road, but instead realized she already had an album’s worth of songs she adored. 

So rather than iron them out in high-profile studios around Los Angeles, she absconded to a rental in Palm Springs with her two of her best friends, artist/producer Pretty Sister and decade-long collaborator Peter Thomas. They finished Betty in 10 days.

And that hustle itself mimics a theme of Betty’s childhood in Sydney: while her classical training began at age 4, she devoted every free second to Britney, Christina, *NSYNC, and MJ. The voices, the moves, the lyrics, the spectacle—she ate it all up, especially that feeling the best pop gives you: “When you hear it,” says Betty, “and go, ‘Oh my God, you literally wrote this about me.’ I’ve wanted to make  music like that ever since.” 

In that spirit, Betty gives us what we need most right now: an excuse to dance in the mirror, license to trust our instinct, and knowledge that joy is never too far away.

Cece Peniston

Cece Peniston‘s beginning is magical in that she spent most of her formative years in Phoenix, Arizona and got her first start singing before her congregation in church. In 1989, Peniston was crowned Miss Black Arizona and reigned as Miss Galaxy in 1990. In 1991, “DJ Wax Dawg” asked her to record back- up vocals for a female rapper slated to release an album on A&M Records.  

Peniston’s hit single known today as “Finally” was born and CeCe accomplished what all talented artists only dream of, inking a deal for her own debut album. Her signature Dance hit “Finally” was #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart and #2 on the UK Top 75.

It became one of the biggest dance records in history to sell over 3 million copies worldwide.

Peniston set in motion a series of singles and videos. 

In June 2008, Peniston released “Above Horizons”, a national PTA anthem as a tribute to the families, teachers and communities who help children reach their dreams through the Parent Teacher Association.

This resulted from her role as National Ambassador of the US largest volunteer child advocacy organization. The ballad was written by Byron V. Garrett, Peniston, Erric Carrington, Essej and Marcus L. Barnum. 

The CD promo release, issued on National PTA Recordings, included overall four versions.

CeCe’s commitment to showing fans the strong and sensitive side of herself and the care she brings to every situation can soon be viewed by a broader audience. 

The first single off her new album is entitled “Nothing Can Stop Me Now”, a title truly fitting for the next phase of CeCe’s life. 

Watch out for CeCe Peniston, a woman who’s movin’ on from past hurts, lost love, and making a way for a better more confident CeCe.

Idina Menzel

Idina Menzel is a powerhouse multi-hyphenate: a singer, an actress in film and TV, a songwriter, a Broadway star, and a philanthropist. 

She rose to fame for her role as Maureen in the popular Broadway musical Rent, and her career took off when she won a Tony Award for her role as Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, in the smash musical Wicked. 

Her voice can be heard as Elsa in Disney’s Oscar® winning Frozen, the second highest grossing animated films of all time, with more than $1.2 billion in worldwide box office revenue. 

The film’s song “Let It Go,” voiced by Menzel, became an instant international phenomenon, winning the Oscar® for Best Original Song - where Menzel performed it at the ceremony - and the Grammy® Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media. 

The track reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, making Menzel the first artist with both a Billboard Top 10 hit and a Tony Award for acting. 

Menzel returned to her starring role as Jodi in the West Coast premiere of Joshua Harmon’s Skintight in September 2019; the show is a follow up to the off-Broadway performance that opened to rave reviews at Roundabout Theatre Company. 

The fall also saw her reprise her leading role as Elsa in the highly anticipated release of Disney’s Frozen 2, which broke records to become the highest grossing animated movie of all time, as well as join Adam Sandler in the Sadie Brothers’ critically acclaimed and Film Independent Spirit Award-winning A24 film Uncut Gems.

Menzel was most recently seen in Amazon Studios’ smash hit Cinderella, for which she wrote and sang the song “Dream Girl,” which was shortlisted for the Academy Awards’ Best Song category.

Let your flag fly with Pride

by Dj Fults, editor

The rainbow striped Pride flag originated in 1978, when San Francisco celebrated the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade. These eight colored flags was created to represent sex, life, healing, sunlight, nature, magic and art, serenity, and Spirit of LGBTQ+ People (Pink, Red, Orange,  Yellow, Green, Turquoise, Indigo, Violet, respectively).

The original Flag was created by artist Gilbert Baker at the request of San Francisco City Supervisor and first openly gay elected official in the history of California, Harvey Milk.

Over the years, there have been additions and omittions to accommodate the evolving sense of Pride in our community. As demand for the flags increased, colors were omitted in response to the lack of availability in the fabrics used. The eight-color flag became seven colors, and now the six colors we’ve come to know. The omittion of colors does not reflect a lack of representation, as our community grows, we recognize and honor the diversity in our community. 

In June 2017, the Philadelphia Office of LGBT Affairs unveiled the “More Colors, More Pride” flag (aka Philadelphia Pride Flag) to show the celebration of the people of color. This new flag added the black and brown stripes.

In June 2018, designer Daniel Quasar unveiled a the “Progress” flag design to incorporate the elements of the More Colors, More pride flag, but aimed for more inclusion of The Progress flag adds a chevron pattern to the original 6-stripe rainbow representing marginalized people of color, trans individuals, and those living with HIV/AIDS (and those who have been lost).

“We need to always keep progress moving forward in all aspects of our community,” Quasar said.

St. Louis even has our own Pride flag to show our community Pride. Dating all the way back in the 1980’s, the Magnolia Committee (St. Louis’ first LGBTQIA+ celebration) flew their flag to show Pride in our community.

Many groups in the LGBTQIA+ community have their own flag. Lesbian, bisexual, transgender, Intersex, queer people of color, nonbinary, asexual, bears and more have introduced flags to represent the marginalized groups.

Two elements remain in all versions of Pride flags. Community and diversity. 

SistahSpeak

by June Glover

“SistahSpeak” served as a spoken word open mic that began in June 2002. 

The purpose of this monthly show was to provide the St. Louis LGBTQIA+ community with quality entertainment by providing a voice and a safe space for verbal expression. 

The show cultivated some of the most dynamic talent, locally and nationally through spoken word, music, song, and written narrative. 

 Individuals who have performed on the stage have gone on to publish books, produce CDs, star in television shows, advance in the political arena, and made positive contributions in our community.

SistahSpeak started as a social event in the living room of one of the members of a local lesbian social group called “Sapphic Sistahs”. A few Sapphic Sistahs Patricia Cole, LaTonya Kelly and June Glover also launched an LGBTQIA+-centered entertainment company called SC3 Productions. The ladies decided to take the show and make it a recurring monthly event beginning the following month. The show eventually made its home at Cicero’s in the Delmar Loop. 

At its core, “sapphic” is an inclusive term for lesbians, bisexual, and pansexual people of a variety of genders. Trans femme, masc, nonbinary people, and cis women, can all fall under the sapphic umbrella if the term resonates with them.

Sapphic Sistah Monique Maxey (Nailah) hosted the first event and continued as Hostess and Creative Director until 2007. SistahSpeak continued under SC3 Productions for two more years until it was retired.

In 2012, after many requests for its return, the ladies held a 10th year reunion show featuring nationally acclaimed poet Red Summer. Who has been the lead curator of the Hip-Hop Museum DC, historian, educator, and documentary filmmaker. Following SistahSpeak, SC3 rebranded as SC2 and had open mics “Speak Your Peace” in 2015 and “The Sanctuary” in 2018. 

These shows would be affectionately referred to as SistahSpeak as well. However, what makes the original SistahSpeak so beloved is that it originated in a time where, though, there were many prominent open mics in St. Louis, there was little representation for the queer audience. 

SistahSpeak has offered a haven where people are allowed to celebrate their queerness by being seen with spoken word. It was woman centered, yet open to all genders and orientations, providing validation and visibility.