Pride Month 2021: See What’s Planned In New Jersey

UPDATED with more new events added, June 22, 2021.

NEW JERSEY — As parades, celebrations and parties for Pride Month 2021 are held all over the country this June, people in and near New Jersey are planning and holding gay pride events of their own.

Pride Month celebrations in New Jersey and nearby include:

• Michael Kors, Willowbrook Mall, through June 30, 100 percent of the proceeds from the Michael Kors Pride t-shirt will benefit OutRight Action International.
• Family Pride Picnic and Pool Party, Barclay Farm Swim Club, 15 Whitmarsh Way, Cherry Hill, Wednesday, June 23, from 5 to 8 p.m. Snacks and non-alcoholic beverages, games, door prizes, contests, dancing and more.
• Pride Flag Raising, Elizabeth City Hall, 50 Winfield Scott Plaza, Thursday, June 24 at 5 p.m. An effort between the City of Elizabeth and Lesniak Institute with speakers, including Sen. Raymond Lesniak.
• Mahwah Pride, Commodore Perry Field, Mahwah, Thursday, June 24, 6 to 8 p.m. Raindate on Tuesday, June 29. Live entertainment, an art contest, speakers and more.
• Pride in Cape May, Cape May Conference Center at 714 Beach Avenue, Cape May, Thursday, June 24, starting at 6 p.m. A march on the promenade to the Cove is planned. Attendees can bring Pride signs, flag and music. At the Cove, there will be speakers, music, games, voter registration and time to mingle.
• Pride Rainbow Cookie Decorating Happy Hour, Capitoline, 639 Cookman Avenue, Asbury Park, Thursday, June 24, 7 to 9:30 p.m. How-to decorating on different pride cookies. Tickets are $50 each, with all supplies included. Register through Tuesday, June 22.
• New Jersey National Guard Pride Month Virtual/In Person 5K Event at Fort Dix, 3650 Saylors Pond Road. In person, Thursday, June 24 at 9 a.m., virtual through Sunday, June 27.
• Morris County Pride, Morris Museum, 6 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown, Saturday, June 26, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sold out online, tickets at the door. There may be waits to enter. There’s a full-day lineup with food trucks, musical entertainment, a magician and drag queens and kings.
• Pride In Pitman, First Baptist Church of Pitman, 30 North Broadway, Saturday, June 26, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. See the full day schedule for guest speakers. Vendors, food trucks, crafts, games and community service groups.
• Plumsted Pride 2021, 8 Front Street in New Egypt, Saturday, June 26, starting at 1 p.m., with food, music and fun.
• Pride Night Rock Climbing Fundraiser, Gravity Vault, 110 Brick Plaza, Suite 41, Brick Township, Saturday, June 26, from 7:30 to 10 p.m. A $5 raffle and try-a-climb. Disco climb from 8 to 10 p.m.
• Pride Mass, Our Lady of Grace & St. Joseph, Willow Street, Hoboken, Sunday, June 27, beginning at 10:30 a.m. In-person and streaming on YouTube, in support of LGBTQ brothers and sisters.
• Kuo Social "Celebration of Pride," Kuo Social 2360 NJ-33, Robbinsville, Sunday, June 27, from 3 to 5 p.m. Music, light food and beverages, all invited, with 21+ to drink.
• A Toast to Pride, Pickett’s Village Bar, 2208 Millburn Avenue, Maplewood, Tuesday, June 29, begins at 6 p.m. Toasting Pride and Pride Month with a Pride cocktail, with 80 percent of ticket tax-deductible.
• Being Out in the Tech Space NJIT LGBTQIA+ Pride Month virtual event, Tuesday, June 29, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Click here to register.
• Save the date for Jersey Pride, Pride Celebration, Cooper River Park at the Victim’s of Terrorism site, 7001 North Park Drive in Cherry Hill, Sunday, Sept. 12, 12 to 6 p.m. Entertainment still being lined up, attendees encouraged to bring lawn chairs, tables and picnic blankets. Stay tuned here.
• Save the date for South Jersey Pagan Pride Day 2021, 936 Park Boulevard, Cherry Hill, Saturday, Oct. 2, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Food, music, local crafters, kids’ crafts, a psychic, tarot card readings, workshops and more. Stay tuned here.
• Save the date for LGBTQ 30th Annual Celebration, Pride Parade, Rally and Festival in Asbury Park, Sunday, Oct. 10. Visit www.jerseypride.org for updates.

Pride Month spotlights LGBTQ+ people, their influence and the challenges they face. June was chosen in recognition of the 1969 Stonewall riots, when police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City’s Greenwich Village neighborhood.

The raid led to a riot among patrons and local residents, with days of protests and violent clashes with police. The Stonewall riots ultimately sparked a gay rights movement nationally and globally, according to the Library of Congress.

The Pride celebration was originally dubbed “Gay Pride Day” and marked the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall riots with a parade in New York City.

The “day” soon grew to encompass a monthlong series of events in many American cities. It now includes millions of people across the world with parades, picnics, parties, workshops, symposia and concerts, the Library of Congress said.

New York City, where Pride Month began, has hosted an annual march to note its historical connection since 1984, with this year’s NYC Pride march set for June 27.

Several other big cities across the country hold similar annual events in late June. Chicago Pride 2021 will include a variety of events around the city this month, with the Chicago Pride Parade delayed until October due to the coronavirus pandemic. Houston Pride 2021 has also been delayed until the fall.

Virtual Pride events are being held all month, according to a University of Georgia list that includes many of them.

Police officers in Elgin, Illinois, a Chicago suburb, are wearing a Pride Month badge throughout June to show support for the LGBTQ+ community. In Arlington Heights, Illinois, another Chicago suburb, a Pride Month proclamation states that the village "cherishes the value and dignity of each person."

Read More On Patch: Illinois Police Officers Show Support With Pride Month Badge

More rural areas have also began marking June as Pride Month in recent years.

"Each summer, Pride is an opportunity to celebrate the diversity of identities, experiences and histories in the LGBTQ community and recognize all who have and continue to advocate for LGBTQ lives, rights and visibility," Rayne Parker, assistant director of the office of LGBTQ resources at the University of Kentucky, said in a news release.

"As with other recognition months, this is an opportunity to highlight LGBTQ pride and advocacy and should continue to be recognized all year long," Parker said.

Pride events worldwide in 2021 are accompanied by the unveiling of a new pride flag that was changed to include intersex people, Advocate.com and others have reported. Intersex people have bodies that fall outside the strict male/female binary, according to Planned Parenthood.

Patch Editor Emily Leayman contributed to this report.

Questions or comments about this story? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.