Pride Month: the time of year when brands remember that LGBTQ people exist and rush to release special-edition rainbow everything. As the editor of Billboard Pride, it is an honor to have created a colorful place on the Internet that celebrates queer musicians and our fiercest allies 365 days a year. But cynicism aside, we’d be remiss to not amp up the festivities to coincide with the month’s celebration.
Last year, we kicked off June will our Love Letters to the LGBTQ Community project — one that saw stars like Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Selena Gomez, Barbra Streisand, Jennifer Lopez and over 80 others pen thoughtful notes of inspiration and encouragement. By popular demand, we’re repeating our project for a second year — so grab your tissues.
Instead of inciting gay panic and dropping all the letters at once, we will release letters each day throughout the month, led by one of our most outspoken young allies, Ariana Grande. New love letters will be debuted on our @BillboardPride social platforms (which includes our newly launched Instagram and Twitter).
But that’s not all. Following our viral drag queen roundtable — the one where Derrick Barry learned that nobody died at Stonewall — we’ve shot another four episodes of Spillin’ the Tea. Our most fabulous cast includes Eureka O’Hara, Ginger Minj, Jasmine Masters, Miz Cracker, Shea Couleé and Tammie Brown, with new episodes dropping every Wednesday this month. And henny, this year we had a budget: check out the trailer below to see our shiny new set!
We’ve got other special surprises up our sleeves too. To paraphrase Erika Jayne’s iconic meme, we’re going to give the gays (and the rest of the LGBTQ community!) everything they want. Stay tuned.
Peace, love and all of the glitter,
Patrick Crowley, Billboard Pride Editor