By Patrick Hedlund
DNAinfo News Editor
LOWER EAST SIDE — It's time to break out the meat dresses and flaming bras on Orchard Street.
An upcoming gay-pride block party will pay tribute to one of the neighborhood's most famous former residents, Lady Gaga, with a lookalike competition in honor of her work on LGBT rights.
The event, part of the Lower East Side's Pride Goes East celebration, is encouraging participants this year to dress like their Mother Monster, who used to live nearby on Stanton Street when she was an up-and-coming songstress.
The third-annual Pride Goes East festival is a joint effort of the Lower East Side Business Improvement District and Fourth Arts Block, and runs during June's citywide Pride Month festivities.
"If Lady Gaga comes, she can't win," joked Lower East BID executive director Bob Zuckerman, who got the thumbs-up for the June 4 block party from Community Board 3 last week. "That's the only condition."
Gaga was a natural fit for the costume competition, organizers explained, given her much-publicized advocacy for LGBT rights.
State lawmakers have lauded her efforts in pushing for same-sex marriage in the New York, and she emerged as a staunch advocate to the recently repealed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that prevented openly-gay soldiers from serving in the military.
The block party, on Orchard Street between East Houston and Stanton streets, also includes musical performances and will help raise money for organizations like the Gay Men's Health Crisis and Harvey Milk High School.
