Bob the Drag and Peppermint Queen have announced the lineup for the second annual “Black Queer Town Hall.”
Performers and advocates slated to appear are Big Freedia, TS Madison, Mila Jam, Monet X Change, Be Steadwell, Wolf Hudson, Miss Major, Shea Diamond, Tourmaline, Yves Dropper and Queen Jean. Peppermint and Bob the Drag Queen will host and produce the event, which is sponsored by GLAAD and NYC Pride.
The town hall event was initially organized by Marti Gould Cummings in 2020 to create a space to heal, mourn and rejoice Black queer lives. This year, the event will raise money for Black queer talent and this year’s charity, The Knights & Orchids Society, which advocates for Black LGBTQ+ communities in rural areas of the southern United States.
“I’m thrilled to team up again with queer Black folks and their allies dedicated to uplifting queer Black talent,” Peppermint said. “We’ve all learned a lot over the past year. One of the most apparent things is the work is not done. Bob and I are dedicated to connecting everyone with the initiative to love and Support and nurture queerness and Blackness equally.”
Miss Major Griffin-Gracy will be honored with the Black Queer Excellence Award for her “fierce commitment and intersectional approach to justice.” Griffin-Gracy has been an activist for more than 50 years, particulary for transgender women who have survived incarceration and police brutality. She recently served as an executive producer on “Trans in Trumpland,” and collaborated with her longtime assistant Toshio Meronek to pen a novel inspired by her life. The book arrives in late 2021.
“Through our work, we are committed to speaking out for all New Yorkers,” Shawn Kobetz, partnerships manager for NYC Pride, said. “There is no place for racism in the LGBTQ+ community or anywhere else. NYC Pride will speak up, speak out and stand with our fellow New Yorkers in the face of racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism and all other kinds of oppression. We are grateful for the opportunity to help use our platform to listen, educate, and create spaces for dialogue through the Black Queer Town Hall.”
Black Queer Town Hall will livestream on June 26-27 at 8 p.m. ET on the organization’s YouTube and Facebook pages.
