The bustling Austin streets beam with extra color as local businesses and residents make new additions to the scenery: vibrant rainbow flags. In honor of Pride Month, the LGBTQ+ community in Austin gears up with events to raise awareness and celebrate the queer and transgender experience. 

“(Pride is) visibility for people who might feel marginalized and don’t know where they fit in,” said Marc Garcia, president of Pflugerville Pride. “We’re doing it so everybody can feel like they have a place.” 

Though Austin Pride, the city’s main LGBTQ+ parade and festival, will not occur until Aug. 20, several local organizations created a large lineup of June events to celebrate pride and support Austin’s LGBTQ+ community. The Daily Texan compiled some events in the greater Austin area to attend this Pride Month. 

Texas Exes Pride Alumni Network/PEFSA Hangout, June 17

The Texas Exes Pride Alumni Network and the Pride and Equity Faculty Staff Association partnered to create an event for UT community members to celebrate pride together. The hangout will take place at Cheer Up Charlies, a popular LGBTQ+ friendly bar, on Friday from 5-7 p.m. 

According to the Texas Exes website, “the LGBTQIA+ community is highly diverse, representing a wide range of identities and varied campus experiences, and this new network will be a chance for the entire community to come together as Longhorns and support each other and the University we love.” 

Pflugerville Pride Pfestival, June 18

The city of Pflugerville will host its first ever pride festival Saturday from 1-6 p.m. with LGBTQ+ entertainment, vendors and headliner Tammie Brown from RuPaul’s Drag Race. Additionally, the event will feature a panel of elected representatives, mental health professionals and activists discussing LGBTQ+ issues, so people can “get engaged and celebrate at the same time,” Garcia said. 

“(We feel) a sense of sheer happiness that we’ve had such an outpouring (of support) from the community,” Garcia said. “Pflugerville has changed over the course of the last 10 to 15 years (to become) such a diverse and welcoming community, which is part of why we said we want to do something here to celebrate that diversity.” 

Colors of Pride, June 25 

Colors of Pride welcomes queer and trans people of color and allies to celebrate pride together Saturday, June 25 from 12-6 p.m. with live music, LGBTQ+ vendors, resource tabling and more. According to the Colors of Pride website, around 50% of the greater Austin area’s LGBTQ+ residents are people of color, making this an important event for intersectional visibility and community engagement. 

According to the Colors of Pride website, “LGBTQIA+ people of color deserve a pride gathering that celebrates us — our diverse cultures, heritages and contributions to the world — and strengthens our resilience individually and as a community.”

Pride Picnic at Pease Park, June 26 

Pease Park partnered with Future Front Texas, a local nonprofit that showcases women and LGBTQ+ creators, to host a pride picnic of “abundant sunshine, community vibes and a delightfully queer celebration of the summer solstice,” according to the invitation on Future Front’s website. The event, located at Pease Park on Sunday, June 26 from 12-4 p.m., will feature a community market of 40 LGBTQ+ vendors, a food court of Austin businesses and family-friendly activities. 

“Our theme is summer of abundance.” said María Rivera, Future Front’s founding programs manager. “We’re really grateful, and we’re attracting and celebrating abundance.”