(758 Pride Saint Lucia)- The Saint Lucia Pride committee will host the second annual Pride celebration for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community on the island under the theme “Persist with Pride“. The series of activities will take place over the last weekend in August, from the 28th – 31st.
758Pride begins with a next level launch featuring RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars (S4) winner Monét X Change, an American drag queen, singer, and reality television personality with roots in Saint Lucia. Monét X Change is the stage name of Kevin Bertin. Bertin was born in Brooklyn, New York City and moved to Saint Lucia at six months old. Bertin later moved back to NYC and trained in opera performance. The first drag pageant Monét won was representing Saint Lucia at the 6th Gay Caribbean USA Pageant, created by another Saint Lucian, Hemish Gervis. Her first original single, “Soak It Up” has over two million views and her debut EP “Unapologetically” premiered at number two on the Pop charts. She currently hosts The X Change Rate on Build.
Pride co-Co-ordinator Jassica St Rose notes, “The Saint Lucian LGBTQ+ community has clamoured for this and we are happy to provide this outlet for a celebration of our identities and our freedoms, while pushing for full recognition and respect by our government and society.
Monét will be interviewed by Saint Lucian talk show host Amin Flood during the launch via Zoom, which will be streamed live to 758Pride’s FaceBook page. Featuring this successful drag queen with small island roots, underscores the aim of Pride, which is to provide hope to and nurture the dignity of non-heterosexual and gender non-conforming people on Saint Lucia.
The event encompasses a variety of advocacy and community building activities over the weekend. The launch will be followed by a community gathering that same evening. On August 29 into the morning of the 30th, 758Pride will host Spectrum, a daybreak party.
758Pride Saint Lucia also seeks to educate and sensitise the public and the evening of August 30th features The Vogue fashion and drag show. Events culminate on August 31st with Out n Bad, a youth panel discussion on the effect of bullying and othering on LGBTQ+ and marginalised young people. This will feature panelists from the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the National Youth Council (NYC).
Ultimately, 758Pride aims to end the stigmatisation and othering of LGBTQ people by creating a movement which appreciates and empowers them, not in spite of their diversity, but because of it.
