readwithpride.com There’s something almost religious about sitting in a darkened theater, the smell of overpriced popcorn in the air, waiting for the lights to dim. But for us, it’s more than just a movie night. When the screen flickers to life at a queer film festival, we aren’t just looking at actors; we’re looking at …

Queer Film Festivals: Celebrating Our Stories on ScreenRead More

readwithpride.com There’s something inherently queer about the turning of the seasons. If you’ve ever felt like you didn’t quite fit into the rigid boxes of traditional organized religion, you aren’t alone. For decades, members of our community have been looking toward the stars, the moon, and the ancient rhythms of the earth to find a …

Solstice Spirits: Pagan Roots in Modern Queer JoyRead More

readwithpride.com If you’ve ever scrolled through the history of LGBTQ+ nightlife, you’ve probably seen the photos: a sea of thousands of people, all dressed in pristine, head-to-toe white, dancing under the moonlight in Miami. It looks like a dream, a literal heaven on earth. But the White Party wasn’t just a high-fashion circuit event or …

The White Party: A Legacy of HIV/AIDS AwarenessRead More

readwithpride.com Mark your calendars, babes, because May 17th isn’t just another Tuesday (or whatever day it lands on in your corner of the world). It’s the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia: or IDAHOTB, IDAHOBIT, or simply a day to shout from the rooftops that we are here, we are queer, and we aren’t …

International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHOT): A Global Celebration of ResilienceRead More

readwithpride.com If you think a birthday celebration involves a lukewarm slice of supermarket cake and a chorus of “Happy Birthday” that sounds more like a funeral dirge, you clearly haven’t spent enough time in the ballroom scene. In the world of ballroom, a birthday isn’t just a marker of another trip around the sun; it’s …

Ballroom Birthdays: The Ultimate Celebration of ExcellenceRead More

readwithpride.com If there is one event that is etched into the DNA of the queer women’s community, it’s The Dinah. Imagine this: The scorching California sun, the shimmering blue of a Palm Springs pool, and thousands of queer women, non-binary folks, and allies all occupying the same space, unapologetically. We aren’t just talking about a …

The Dinah: Celebrating Lesbian Culture in the DesertRead More

readwithpride.com When we think about the pioneers of our community, a few names always rise to the top of the list. But if there’s one person who truly embodied the transition from “hiding in the shadows” to “standing in the spotlight,” it’s Harvey Milk. Every year on May 22nd, we celebrate Harvey Milk Day: not …

Harvey Milk Day: Celebrating a VisionaryRead More

readwithpride.com Let’s be real for a second: as queer people, we’ve spent a large chunk of our lives scanning the “General Fiction” shelves at bookstores like we’re looking for a secret code. We’re hunting for that one character who looks like us, loves like us, or maybe just has a slightly too-long lingering look at …

Queer Book Clubs: Celebrating Literacy and ConnectionRead More

readwithpride.com Let’s be real for a second: for a lot of us in the LGBTQ+ community, birthdays haven’t always been “piece of cake” moments. Maybe it was a tense dinner with parents who didn’t quite get it, or a childhood party where you felt like you were playing a character in your own life. But …

Chosen Family Birthdays: Crafting Our Own TraditionsRead More

readwithpride.com Spring is officially in the air, and you know what that means. It’s time to dust off the pastels, prep the mimosas, and get ready for a holiday that the queer community has effectively turned into an Olympic-level social event. Easter 2026 isn’t just about chocolate eggs and bunnies; it’s about the ultimate queer …

Easter 2026: Queer Brunches and New TraditionsRead More

readwithpride.com If you find yourself in San Francisco on Easter Sunday, don’t expect just chocolate bunnies and quiet church bells. Instead, head straight to Mission Dolores Park, where the grass is covered in glitter, the air smells like eucalyptus and hairspray, and the “nuns” are wearing whiteface makeup and roller skates. Welcome to the world …

Hunky Jesus and the Sisters: A San Francisco Easter HistoryRead More

readwithpride.com When you think of Easter, your mind probably jumps to pastel-colored eggs, chocolate bunnies with suspiciously hollow insides, and perhaps a very long church service. But for the LGBTQ+ community: and specifically for the generations of gay men who found liberation in the local haberdashery: Easter has always been about one thing: the Bonnet. …

The Easter Bonnet: A History of Queer FlairRead More

readwithpride.com Imagine it’s Easter Sunday, 1954. The air in the city is crisp, smelling of damp pavement and the faint, sweet scent of lilies wafting from florist shop doors. You’re standing in front of a mirror, adjusting a silk tie with steady hands, though your heart is doing a nervous dance against your ribs. Your …

Quiet Faith: Navigating the 1950s Easter ServiceRead More

readwithpride.com When we think of spring today, we usually think of chocolate bunnies, pastel-colored eggs, and maybe a nice brunch. But if we peel back the layers of history, long before the chocolate eggs hit the supermarket shelves in 2026, we find a season that was deeply, unapologetically queer. At Read with Pride, we’re obsessed …

Before Easter: Ancient Queer Spring FestivalsRead More

readwithpride.com When we think of the 1970s in the queer timeline, our minds usually flash to the neon heat of disco, the grit of the Christopher Street Liberation Day marches, and the defiant roar of post-Stonewall activism. But there’s a softer, feathers-and-lace side to this revolution that often gets overlooked: the rise of the Gay …

The 1970s: The Rise of the Gay Easter ParadeRead More

readwithpride.com Let’s be real: as kids, Easter was all about the sugar rush. We’d scramble across the lawn, knocking over toddlers and dodging aunties just to get our hands on a plastic egg filled with three jellybeans and a chalky Tums-flavored candy. Fast forward to 2026, and the stakes have evolved. For the modern queer …

Spicy Eggs: The Rise of Adult Easter Egg HuntsRead More

readwithpride.com When you think of Easter in 1980s New York City, your mind might wander to the grand parade on Fifth Avenue, with its sea of elaborate bonnets and high-society stares. But for the Black and Latino LGBTQ+ community of the era, the real resurrection was happening underground. In the dimly lit community centers of …

Ballroom Blooms: Easter in 1980s NYC House CultureRead More

readwithpride.com Spring is in the air, and if you listen closely, you can almost hear the collective sigh of relief from the planet as it shakes off the frost. Here at Read with Pride, we’re obsessed with the way the seasons mirror our internal journeys. There is something deeply poetic about the timing of Easter: …

Resurrection of Self: Coming Out During EasterRead More

readwithpride.com Honey, let’s be real: Easter has always been the unofficial Met Gala of the religious calendar. Long before we had red carpets and paparazzi, we had the “Sunday Best.” It’s that one day of the year where the mandate isn’t just to celebrate a resurrection, but to ensure your outfit is absolutely killing it. …

Sunday Best: The Evolution of Easter Drag and StyleRead More

readwithpride.com When we think of the medieval monastery, we often conjure images of austere silence, stone cold floors, and a complete lack of “extracurricular” activities. But if you’ve spent any time diving into the world of MM historical romance or queer history, you know that where there is a group of men living in close …

Coded Cloisters: Queer Monastic Life and Easter SymbolsRead More