Pride 2023



Pride 2023 was a month long LGBTQIA+ Pride Celebration that was held in the city through the month of June 2023.

Planning
After the huge success of Pride 2022, behind the scenes planning by the team at Pitchers for Pride 2023 began in January/February of 2023. During the planning of Pride 2022 and widespread political fallout from Ramee El Rahman's mayoral campaign against Cerberus, friction arose between various members of the team at Pitchers and members of Cerberus (the group Pitchers had initially requested help from with Pride) resulting in various members from both sides not being on good terms. As a result, Pitchers decided they wanted to keep Cerberus involvement to a minimum and do as much as possible themselves.

On March 15th, Pitchers presented their first ideas for Pride 2023 to Mr K; including asking for help with access to stages & microphones, assistance with decorations, train tickets and the go-ahead from higher-ups in the city - which Mr K agreed should be achievable.

On June 15, 2023, the Mayor's Office paid Pitchers an additional 10 million dollars in Pride funding via the state grant program.

Events
A number of events were hosted for Pride 2023 throughout the end of May and into June of 2023.



May 29 | Q&A with The Gays & Theys
The Q&A with The Gays & Theys, a radio show on Siren Radio, a roundtable discussion about Pride and LGBTQIA+ issues. Hosted by Sophie Sanders with guests Ricardo Perez, Meg Kyracruz, Sean Deane, Fauna Flowers & W'Kabi Aku.



May 31 | Pride Fashion Show
The Pride Fashion Show took place at the Vanilla Unicorn, where all of the new fashion items brought into the city were styled, modelled & walked down the runway. A raffle was also held for an AMG GT 63. With performances by Diana Cortez & Liz Anya