Celebrating LGBT Pride Month in the Hamptons and on the North Fork

LGBT Pride Month sashays its way to the East End this June, and there are plenty of chances to celebrate! Whether you’re gay, bisexual, transgender or a straight ally, here are some thrilling events where you can celebrate love, pride and equality in the Hamptons and on the North Fork.

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East Enders are accustomed to making the trek out west to participate in the grand Pride celebrations that flood Long Beach and New York City with a rainbow of colors. While those events—Pride on the Beach from June 21–23 and WorldPride NYC from June 26–30—are returning bigger than ever this year for the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, there’s an all-new “out west” event that doesn’t require leaving Suffolk County: Patchogue’s first Pride.

Every year, the Greater Patchogue Chamber of Commerce hosts Alive After Five, a popular series of street fairs that takes place throughout the summer. The 2019 series features four events, each celebrating a different group in the local community—including the armed forces, women in the arts and people of diverse cultures—and it kicks off with the LGBT community on Thursday, June 27 from 5–9:30 p.m. With the LGBT Network co-hosting, this is going to be one of the biggest festivals of the summer with 90 craft and retail vendors, 11 food trucks and six live entertainment stages filling Main Street, plus an auction with many fabulous prizes to win, sidewalk cafes with Pride-themed menus, fun children’s activities and loads of other merriment.

The LGBT Network is introducing not one, but two new Pride events to the East End this year. On Tuesday, June 25, Pride in the Vines celebrates not only the East End queer community, but also the beautiful North Fork wine country. The festivities begin at 1 p.m. when the first of many shuttles embarks on a tour of some of the region’s popular vineyards. The event culminates in a grand party at Clovis Point, located at 1935 Main Road, Jamesport, replete with summer wines, gourmet food and live music.

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The LGBT Network’s East End location at 44 Union Street, Sag Harbor will host special Pride receptions and functions for LGBT youth and seniors all month long, as well as one epic party on Friday, June 14 that will bring the whole community together. More details will be released after the grand opening of the LGBT Network’s Hauppauge Center on May 31.

The Hetrick-Martin Institute (HMI) offers another way to give back, with the return of its annual School’s Out benefit for New York’s LGBT youth on Saturday, June 8. The evening begins at the Amagansett Square with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres by Wölffer Kitchen at 6 p.m., and is then followed by a luxurious STK Steakhouse dinner at a private residence. Cocktail-only tickets are $500 and dinner tickets begin at $1,500, both of which help HMI to continue offering hot meals and other vital life-saving services year-round.

One major reason for Pride Month is to increase LGBT visibility and to foster acceptance and understanding between the straight/cisgender majority and the gay/transgender minority. Anyone who’s still trying to understand these terms and concepts should start the month off with LGBT 101, a free class at John Jermain Memorial Library, 201 Main Street, Sag Harbor on Sunday, June 2 at 3 p.m. An educator from the LGBT Network’s Long Island Gay and Lesbian Youth (LIGALY) organization will teach an introductory workshop on sexual orientation, gender identity, heterosexism, homophobia and transphobia. Online registration is required at johnjermain.org.

Find more summer Hamptons and North Fork fun on our online calendar, at DansPapers.com/Events.