WEST VILLAGE — New York City is set to host the first-ever international gay pride event to be held in the United States and coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising.
WorldPride 2019 and Stonewall 50, the official commemoration of the 1969 gay rights riots, will occur at the same time, NY Pride organizers said.
“The Stonewall Uprising is considered the most significant event that ignited the modern LGBT rights movement, so it makes perfect sense to bring WorldPride to the birthplace of Pride in 2019,” said David Schneider, NYC Pride’s Stonewall 50 Director.
The selection of the city by InterPride, an international consortium of LGBT organizations, took place at its annual meeting a few weeks ago.
“We are so grateful that our fellow Pride organizers from across the globe have chosen New York City for this momentous occasion,” Schneider said.
The theme of both WorldPride 2019 and Stonewall 50 is "Millions of Moments of Pride," Schneider said.
The festivities will span two months and feature educational events and arts programming, as well as the city's ever-popular Pride march, rally and PrideFest — essentially an annual weekend-long dance party in the city's swankiest venues.
Millions of people already flock to New York City in June for the march, organizers said. So Stonewall 50/WorldPride 2019 is expected to be one of the largest LGBT events in history.
Previous WorldPrides have been held in Rome, Jerusalem, London and Toronto. Madrid is set to host the next one in 2017.
