June 6, 2020 – Many parades and gatherings have been suspended due to COVID-19. In response to Michigan’s Pride parade being canceled, Free Mom Hugs – Michigan hosted a virtual LGBTQ parade! In this parade, if you fast-forward to 15:47, you will see someone familiar. Super Ivycorn is standing there with her thumbs up towards the camera.
Ivy Golob, a trans Deaf youth, coined herself Super Ivycorn after participating in a video about bullying with Patrick McMullen (comedian). Her outfit (cape, shirt and unicorn ears) was put together after she asked her parent, Heather, to create a shirt looking with the initial “I” looking like Supergirl.
In the Free Moms Hug parade, the next picture is a photograph of Ivy by Cami Bones (an artist and one of Ivy’s biggest fans who follows her Instagram account). After that, Ivy is shown standing next to a laptop playing the video she was in last summer (2019). While the video is smaller and more difficult to see, Ivy does the song in ASL. The description read: “Ivy sent us this adorable video of her signing along with a video she filmed last summer with Drag Queen Nina West. Check out superhero and advocate Ivycorn!” (Free Mom Hugs – Michigan)
This video is one of many ways that LGBTQ+ community event organizers have decided to continue the Pride spirit. Our world has been thrown into a “virtual culture” because of COVID-19. For the first time in 50 years, pride events all over the world have been canceled, even the infamous New York City celebration. That does not mean that the LGBTQ+ community won’t celebrate Pride. Each host city organizers have made their decisions and Free Mom Hugs – Michigan Pride chose to do it online.
Interested in celebrating Pride?
There are multiple events available online including Global Pride celebrations on June 27, 2020. InterPride and the European Pride Organizers Association announced that they’re working with Pride organizations in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and elsewhere in order to “bring communities and Pride organizations together for this Global Pride event on online platforms to deliver a Pride in which everyone can participate, wherever they are in the world.”
Parade Magazine also offered other ways for the community to continue to celebrate 2020 Pride. The fundamentals of the list below comes from “Your Guide to Pride 2020 and How Coronavirus Will Affect the Celebrations—Plus: Virtual Pride!” (Parade)
Deaf Vee Journal wants to point out that Pride celebrations could not have been possible without the legendary Marsha P. Johnson, a Black trans woman and a sex worker, who spoke out against oppressive policing. Trans and queer Black and Brown folks were fed up with police brutality, which to this day continues across the nation.
Learn about other LGBTQ+ activists, such as Harvey Milk, Barbara Gittings, James Baldwin, Stormé DeLarverie, Gore Vidal, Alan Turing, David Hockney, Gilbert Baker, Tab Hunter, Mark Ashton, Lili Elbe, Sylvia Rivera, Jackie Shane and Leslie Cheung—to name just a few.
Find the nearest LGBTQ+ causes to your location and see what you can do for your part. Remember, allyship is an ongoing practice every day in your life–it is not a “checklist.” This list is provided by GLAAD (see a list of resources here).
Donate to the Deaf Queer Resource Center and other Deaf LGBTQ+ causes. If you want to donate to general LGBTQ causes, the list also shows you ratings on transparency and overhead costs, so you can be sure your money goes as far as it can in solidarity, especially with trans and queer Black and Brown communities.
Support and engage in LGBTQ+ art and culture such as music, films and TV shows that you can enjoy from the safety of your home.
Wave the flag and deck yourself out in rainbow colors. Deaf Vee Journal also wants to warn our readers to be wary of rainbow capitalism, where big brands add rainbow colors to their websites and products for Pride month to make profits and yet for the other 11 months of the year, they do not do anything to support trans and queer communities of color. Be sure to shop at trans and queer Black and Brown-owned businesses instead!
