June is celebrated as Pride Month for the LGBTQ+ community and has been since the Stonewall riots in 1969.
In Wichita, there are several events throughout June to celebrate Pride. This year’s theme is ‘There’s no Place Like Pride’ to correlate with the emerald anniversary of Wichita Pride.
Wichita Pride officially got its start in the late 1980s, but in the 90s, it went on a hiatus until 2005 due to leadership moving on with their lives.
From 2005-2011, Pride was held the last week of June, but moved to the end of September in 2012 due to heat-related concerns. In 2023, events moved back to June.
This month has held the Big Gay market, the Dragging Douglas pride festival and the release of WSU professor Jay Price’s book on pride and LGBTQ+ history in Wichita.
Some of the events require a button for entry, which can be purchased at The Workroom or Century II.
Coming Up
Tallgrass is showing LGBTQ+ films, “RENT” and “Summer Qamp” on June 13 and 14, both at 7 p.m.
The 10 year anniversary of JuneteenthICT will be celebrated June 15 – 22 with its own calendar of events.
On June 19, the Wichita Ice Center is hosting a teen skate party, which, according to Wichita Pride, is an event for teens to ice skate out and proud with other members of the community and allies.
The next day, a family swim party will be held at Minisa pool (2025 pride button required for entry).
From 4 p.m. to midnight on the 21st is the Pride Bar Crawl, which starts at The Dive and ends with an afterparty at Fever Night Life. Tickets are required for the event, which can be purchased online.
Tenfold Tattoo partnered with White Crow Cider company for a tattoo pop-up on June 22, for which the proceeds are donated to the ACE Foundation. For the most part, appointments are required, but some walk-ins are subject to availability.
On the 27th, the Mx. Wichita pride pageant will be held at Century II; buttons are required for entry. The pageant starts at 7 p.m. with a cocktail hour beforehand starting at 6.
To wrap up Pride month, on June 28, there is a Pride Parade and Equality rally at 11 a.m., followed by the Pride festival from 12 – 4 p.m.
