Wishing you happy holidays and a wonderful 2017!

Dear Friends of ShanghaiPRIDE,

As 2016 comes to an end, we would like to share with you some of our achievements this year. We could not have done it without your support. During the 11-day Pride8 festival, we hosted 33 events and more than 6,500 participants from Shanghai, nearby cities and all over the world.

Before Pride week proper, we received over 300 volunteer applications. We had our first Pride Talk where 10 individuals stood up and shared their personal stories related to LGBTQ and the community. Pride Run achieved new heights by partnering with Nike for the first time, with 200 running spots taken up in just 3 days. PFLAG China’s national conference was held during Pride week where we witnessed strong support from parents and allies. For the first time in Shanghai, we brought together 33 local LGBTQ organizations from all over China, including Yunnan and Xinjiang, for the LGBTQ Groups Open Day. At this year’s Pride, we raised RMB30,000 for Beijing Tongyu to run anti-discrimination and anti-violence projects in schools.

Besides Pride week in June, we held many events throughout the year. The Rainbow Bike Ride was held in conjunction with International Day Against Homophobia or Transphobia in May. We met Sir Ian McKellen, famous for his starring roles in Lord of the Rings and X-Men, just before Pride8 where he sent inspiring words to the local community. In November, we hosted retired NBA and openly gay basketball player, Jason Collins, at a Diversity in Sports Forum. We hosted many film screenings and professional women’s forum. During World AIDS Day, we raised RMB60,000 for Shanghai Qingai Health Center at the Red Ribbon Gala Dinner.

ShanghaiPRIDE will continue our mission to create awareness and visbility, and promote acceptance and tolerance for the LGBTQ community through various sports, cultural, and social activities. We will continue to support local grassroots development and fundraise for projects related to diversity and inclusion.

Thank you for making Pride8 the most successful Pride festival to-date! We hope to have your support again in 2017. Please feel free to contact us anytime if you have ideas, resources or references.

We wish you happy holidays and a wonderful 2017!!

Best wishes,
On behalf of Team ShanghaiPRIDE

Charlene Liu
Raymond Phang
Evie Wu
Darick Qin
Summer Wu
Lesley Sun