Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
LGBTQ+ festival returns to downtown Hollywood with ‘Banned Book Nook’
It’s only the second year of the My Hollywood Pride festival, but already the LGBTQ event is making a stand against what organizers feel are legislative attacks on their community in Florida.
“We have added a Banned Book Nook for the opportunity to see and read books that have been banned from Florida schools,” Jameer Baptiste, one of the organizers, tells the South Florida
Sun Sentinel. “This is our response to all the aggression going on, the anti-LGBTQ movement you see in ... Florida, especially with [Gov.] Ron DeSantis.”
Baptiste is a board member of The Hollywood LGBTQ+ Council, which first staged My Hollywood Pride around the same time last year.
The city of Hollywood, due in large part to the work of the council over three years, managed to turn a low “equality index” score of 48 given by the Human Rights Campaign into an impressive score of 100. That was the spark that led to the first festival.
The inaugural My Hollywood Pride in 2022 had a brunch event and a main stage with entertainment including drag queens, live bands and queer performers. There was also a marketplace with gay-owned and gay-friendly vendors as well as a youth center with Drag Queen Story Time, Teen Fun Zone and a quilt-making section
(the quilt now hangs at the Art and Culture Center of Hollywood but will be brought to the festival).
Baptiste adds that this year, “Our theme is ‘Welcome Home.’ We want people to know that there are safe spaces in this community. We are literally surrounded by red territory pushing ... all these anti-gay laws. We wanted them to know there are safe spaces and we’re one of them. You can feel safe, read a banned book, express your true self without being attacked or seen as a villain.”
My Hollywood Pride will take place from 1 to 6 p.m. on Sunday, Jan.
29 in the 1900 block of Hollywood Boulevard. Tickets are free. To order — and reserve a spot — go to MyHollywoodPride.com.
There will be a Tea Dance from 6-10 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 29 at Karma Hollywood,1929 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. Admittance is a $20 suggested donation. The day before, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 28, there will be a brunch at Chwa Hollywood restaurant, 2050 Hollywood Blvd. Tickets are $100. To order, go to myhollywoodpride.com/ pride-100-brunch.
Here is more about My Hollywood Pride in excerpts from a Q&A with Baptiste.
Q: Why is this Pride event in January instead of the typical June?
A: “With Stonewall Pride taking place in June we wanted to leave that iconic event in South Florida to
Stonewall Pride. January is a good kickoff to not only the New Year, but Pride and LGBTQ equality.”
Q: Is there anything different from the first time in 2022?
A: “We want to re-create the great atmosphere from our inaugural event, but also do some tweaks to make it better for the festival goer. We moved the main stage to a better location, comfort and visibility. And, with the Banned Book Nook, which is new this year, we feel that the LGBTQ+ youth can come
and enjoy festivities as much as the adults can.”
Q: Where exactly is this event staged in downtown Hollywood?
A: “On Hollywood Boulevard between Young Circle and Dixie Highway. That part of the downtown area is really a melting pot of different restaurants from all different cultures. It’s got really interesting nightlife going on.”
Q: Aside from the Banned Book Nook, is there anything your team is particularly excited about this
time around?
A: “Just our lineup of entertainment artists and individuals from across the state. And Velvet Lenore is hosting and she’s just a ball of energy who really enlivens festivals. We have such an incredible mixture of Hollywood locals and the LGBTQ+ community here in South Florida. And all our sponsors and volunteers — without them we would be nothing. To have so much support in the first couple of years so we can amplify that Hollywood is a place of inclusion, diversity and acceptance.”