A Very Proud City brings queer joy to Boston with events all month long

When Lamb Rahming began imagining what Boston’s Pride month events could look like this year, one concept was at the front of his mind: joy.

Rahming collaborated with the city's Office of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion and the Office of Equity and Inclusion to create A Very Proud City, a weekly series of events including DJ sets, spoken word and drag shows. He is managing director of Men of Melanin Magic, an organization working to bring together queer people of color and their allies.

“Our mission is to make queer joy an easier thing to find in Boston and beyond,” Rahming said. “When folks come to the events, they should expect to experience joy in a multiplicity of forms: through performances, through connection with other folks in the community. And it's just going to be one great big celebration and one big reason to be joyful.”

Boston is without an official Pride parade for the third year in a row, after the dissolution of the Boston Pride board after criticism from trans activists of color that it did not represent the whole LGBTQ community in the city. But many other groups have stepped up to host celebrations, from marches to block parties.

A Very Proud City began last week with BOP-ley Square, a dance party in Copley Square Park playing “hit after hit, record after record, and bop after bop,” Rahming said.

“The thing that's so beautiful about it is that so many people came through,” Rahming said. “It was really a good variety of folks. And so it was lovely to see kids bopping around the place, getting their face painted. It was great to see our elders coming out and doing the electric slide with with Gen Z-ers and millennials.”

This week’s event is District Q, described as an eclectic queer marketplace at North and Congress streets by Faneuil Hall, from 4 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday. There’s also a networking event, NetWerq, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on the rooftop of the Sam Adams Taproom near Faneuil Hall.

Next week will bring a dance party and drag show in Downtown Crossing, and the last Wednesday in June will have a benefit concert in the Boston Common called Pride Calling. Find a full schedule of events at averyproudcity.com.

“We consider ourselves ambassadors of the queer community for Boston,” Rahming said. “It's important for us to be welcoming and open and affirming.”