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Echoes of Stonewall riots in Surrey as Pride Month starts today

Events planned throughout June include annual festival at Surrey Civic Plaza
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A crowd watches performers at the 2019 Surrey Pride Festival. This year’s event is planned at Surrey Civic Plaza on June 24, 2023. (File photo: Lauren Collins)

In Surrey and around the world, June is Pride Month to mark the anniversary of the Stonewall riots that happened 54 years ago in New York City.

In Greenwich Village, members of the gay community protested a police raid of the Stonewall Inn bar in the early-morning hours of June 28, 1969, sparking a global Pride movement for gay rights.

This month, several Pride events are planned in Surrey including an annual festival at Surrey Civic Plaza on June 24.

A page on the City of Surrey’s website (surrey.ca) details some of the events, starting with a Youth Pride Dance on Friday, June 2 at Newton Seniors Centre.

Surrey Libraries hosts Teen Pride events June 3 and 7, along with a Rainbow Reads online book club gathering June 13 for those aged 19 and older.

Arts and culture events include “The Flame Storytelling Workshop” to develop Pride stories, hosted by Surrey Civic Theatres on Saturday, June 3 at Surrey Arts Centre.

The following week, on June 10, a Pride in Surrey Shines Through” event is co-hosted by Surrey Civic Theatres and Surrey Archives. The day will include a screening of the “Emergence: Out of the Shadows” documentary movie and a staging of the Rainbow Flame Pride storytelling efforts, with music.

Cloverdale’s Museum of Surrey is also busy with Pride events including a Speaker Series talk with Alex DeForge from QMUNITY on Wednesday, June 14, starting at noon.

At the museum Saturday, June 17 from 1 to 3 p.m., the seniors group QUIRK-E (Queer Imaging & Riting Kollective for Elders) will present poems, visual arts, music, readings and performance.

Until Sept. 3, the museum will showcase “objects that show the diversity of Surrey’s Rainbow community,” in a “Show and Share” exhibit.

In Fleetwood, Surrey’s Pivot Theatre company stages “Drag Out Your Friends,” a family-friendly drag show Tuesday, June 6 at Royal Oak Restaurant (15336 Fraser Hwy). Tickets are $45 for the fundraiser. Dinner reservations are available starting at 4 p.m., and the show starts at 6. Look for details on pivottheatre.ca.

Sold-out is the Drag Queen High Tea & Bingo event June 12 at Alex House in Crescent Beach.

White Rock Social Justice Film Society is doing a special June Pride month screening of the documentary film “Empress of Vancouver” on Friday, June 16 at South Surrey Recreation and Arts Centre, 6 p.m. “This year we wanted to start dedicating our June film screenings to Pride-related films, and we have a wonderful offering,” said the society’s president, Pat Higinbotham. The star and subject of the film, Oliv Howe, and director Dave Shortt are guests for a post-screening Q&A.

Surrey’s Pride Month kicked off with a “So You Think You Can Drag?” fundraiser May 27 and hits a peak with the annual Surrey Pride Festival on Saturday, June 24. The festival will feature the music of ABBA tribute band Arrival and many other performers on the plaza outside city hall, from 3:30 to 9:30 p.m.

More details are posted on surreypride.ca/pride-2023.



tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com

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Tom Zillich

About the Author: Tom Zillich

I cover entertainment, sports and news stories for the Surrey Now-Leader, where I've worked for more than half of my 30-plus years in the newspaper business.
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