San Francisco Pride Has Been Canceled, Organizers Tell Us Why

Executive Director, Fred Lopez, and his team are still hopeful that the 50th anniversary of S.F. Pride will still be commemorated. 

www.advocate.com/pride/2020/4/14/san-francisco-pride-has-been-canceled-organizers-tell-us-why

Boston Gay Men’s Chorus’s ‘Everything Possible’ Is Moving Tribute

The chorus pulled together a virtual performance of its signature song to thank essential workers. 

www.advocate.com/music/2020/4/14/boston-gay-mens-choruss-everything-possible-moving-tribute

San Francisco Pride 2020 cancelled, not postponed

Today San Francisco Pride broke the news that 2020’s Parade and Festival–typically held the last weekend in June on the anniversary of the Stonewall riots–will be cancelled, not postponed, due to COVID-19.

This year’s celebration, among the country’s largest Prides, was to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the first Pride Parade (which took place in 1970 on the one-year anniversary of Stonewall…see how that works?).

Related: The nearly-forgotten ‘Michael’s Thing,’ New York’s premiere gay mag from 1970 – 2000

“This was not a decision we arrived at lightly,” Executive Director Fred Lopez said in a press release. “Far from it: Our staff has been in frequent talks with our board, our production team, our partners at many departments of City Hall, officials at other Pride organizations worldwide — and most of all, our LGBTQ communities. We have heard from people who urged us to cancel, and from those who implored us not to.

“Since the coronavirus first emerged, we have held out hope that the situation would shift and we would be able to gather later this year,” Lopez added. “Well before the first shelter-in-place order, our team began to balance our excitement for Pride 50 and evaluate possible alternatives. With heavy hearts, we have decided not to go forward with the Parade and Celebration in 2020.”

In addition to being a cherished event that draws north of 500,000 revelers, the event also raises substantial funds–$2.5 million on average–which get donated to various local community organizations and nonprofits.

Related: Amazing, never-before-published photos from the historic 1993 March on Washington for LGBTQ rights

“We know what Pride symbolizes for San Francisco — and to LGBTQ+ people around the world,” Board President Carolyn Wysinger said. “We know our decision means disappointment, canceled plans, and one less thing for us all to look forward to. We also know that protecting the safety of all our communities is the most important.”

SF Pride joins an ever-expanding list of spring and summer events being canceled or postponed due to the coronavirus.

www.queerty.com/san-francisco-pride-2020-cancelled-not-postponed-20200414?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Rachel Maddow Profiles Dan Renzi, the Gay ‘MTV Real World’ Alum Who’s Now a Nurse on the NYC Coronavirus Front Line: WATCH

In a segment culled from clips he has posted to his Instagram over the past weeks, Rachel Maddow profiled Dan Renzi, who most probably remember as a housemate on MTV’s The Real World: Miami back in 1996. Renzi, now a nurse living in Kansas, recently moved to NYC after feeling a duty to help in the coronavirus crisis.

Renzi has been documenting his experience on Instagram, and the clips are, as you can imagine, emotional.

Said Renzi in one clip: “If you told me that not too many years after I graduated that I would be living in a hotel in New York while I was putting bodies in body bags because this mysterious virus was mowing down everybody’s grandparents… how do you process that? I didn’t have to come but at the same time I did. If I didn’t come, who will? But it doesn’t make it any easier.”

Renzi also talked about having to make the phone calls to people whose loved ones have died: “People know that it’s coming — that phone call — but it doesn’t make it any easier.”

And perhaps the most emotional was a story Renzi told about how he’s given the responsibility of tying toe tags on bodies to prepare them to be carried to the morgue.

Said Renzi: “They have me do this because I’m the biggest one on the floor and I can lift them easily in bed. So I’ve been looking at a lot of faces, and I keep seeing my parents, and if you could please, I’m 1500 miles away from home. I can’t do anything about it here, so I’m just going to ask you guys a favor, if any of you ever see my parents out and about, tell them to go home. They do not need to be going to the store. … We’re busting our asses here doing CPR on intubated patients and my father is driving around town, so please, if you see him out, just tell him to go home. They can wait this out.”

View this post on Instagram

here is the story that was on Rachel Maddow. Honestly I got so embarrassed watching her talk about me, I couldn’t see the whole thing. But people say it is good. #coronavirus #nyc #nursesofinstagram

A post shared by Dan Renzi (@d.renzi) on Apr 13, 2020 at 12:04pm PDT

The post Rachel Maddow Profiles Dan Renzi, the Gay ‘MTV Real World’ Alum Who’s Now a Nurse on the NYC Coronavirus Front Line: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

Rachel Maddow Profiles Dan Renzi, the Gay ‘MTV Real World’ Alum Who’s Now a Nurse on the NYC Coronavirus Front Line: WATCH