From the Editor: Queer Christmas

This may seem like a pretty unremarkable year—not quite halfway through the decade, a year ending in a four—but for Denver, this year is huge. This is the 50th anniversary of Denver PrideFest! 

Yep, that’s right, 50 years of Pride in Denver! That’s a huge milestone for OFM, The Center on Colfax, who throw Denver PrideFest, and the entire community. It means that for half a century, our city has been honoring the LGBTQ+ community. 

Of course, it doesn’t take a queer theorist to look around and realize that despite this huge milestone and rich history, we are by no means living in a queer paradise of a country where it’s all rainbows and unicorns. In so many states, anti-LGBTQ+ laws are still being passed, leaving folks to flee their communities and look for support elsewhere. There are even lawmakers in our own state who would like to see that happen, despite the support we get from most of our politicians. 

But that’s exactly why this celebration is so important. We need to be extra visible and party (sober partying is totally fine too, of course) extra hard for the folks who are still in the closet or still waiting to get to a safe space, so they can see just what that freedom looks like. And though we should absolutely celebrate this milestone and this season, we should never forget that the first Pride was a protest, and that this season is also all about visibly making a stand for our community. 

If you look through the pages of this issue, we are blending the past, present, and future of our great yaaaasss queen city. We’re publishing a book by Rick Kitzman, queer author and AIDS survivor, and reflecting on the local LGBTQ+ history book by Phil Price, a book that shouts out our local history, including OFM! But we’re also talking about all the great stuff this year’s PrideFest will include, especially the entertainment and the very special Rainbow Market that will celebrate art and culture across the city. 

So please come celebrate with us this year, in Civic Center Park, in the clubs and the streets, in the pages and the online comments section. This is the big 50, the year when old meets new and celebration meets protest. This is a major milestone year for our queer liberation, and we plan to celebrate every moment of it. We’re still here, still queer, and as our late, great founder Phil Price would say, “there’s no turning back” when you’re OUT FRONT. 

– Addison Herron-Wheeler