ShanghaiPRIDE Successfully Concludes 12th Annual Festival

Every year, ShanghaiPRIDE strives to shine a light on the vibrancy and diversity of the global LGBTQ community by promoting acceptance and letting our true colors fly free.

We are pleased to announce the successful conclusion of Pride12, which ran from June 13-21, 2020 and explored the theme of “敢晒，敢骄傲 Raise the Pride.” ShanghaiPRIDE overcame the many unique challenges that 2020 had in store, and we are proud to have been one of the only Pride celebrations to hold offline events this year, bringing Shanghai’s LGBTQ community together to celebrate our identities and Raise the Pride.

Pride season 2020 began on May 17 with the Pride Rainbow Bike Ride, held annually in honor of IDAHOBIT, the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. Six teams who each represent one color of the Pride rainbow flag rode their bikes along six different routes all around the city before arriving together at a single destination, uniting all the colors of the rainbow.

That same afternoon, Pride Open Day offered the LGBTQ community a chance to discover the many groups that support and provide resources for LGBTQ individuals throughout China, making for a vibrant and diverse afternoon of community-building.

That same day, ShanghaiPRIDE’s Workplace Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Forums covered five essential topics in a quest to educate companies on how to create a more inclusive work environment. The discussions ranged from ally programs for corporations to inclusive employee handbooks to an exploration of why supporting diversity benefits companies overall.

The ShanghaiPRIDE Forums, meanwhile, tackled three essential topics throughout the day, sparking insight and discussion with presentations from experts about Mental Health, Inclusive Academia, and Rainbow Marriage.

On the following day, Sunday, June 14, ShanghaiPRIDE’s annual tradition of the Pride Run made its return, with teams running 6 or 12-kilometer routes before celebrating together at their final destination. Each participant received a goodie bag. That same afternoon, the Rainbow Brunch saw attendees enjoying a scrumptious meal and cocktails while surrounded by rainbow-themed decorations.

On Thursday, June 18, ShanghaiPRIDE held our annual celebration for the city’s queer women. The party saw women-identified members of Shanghai’s LBGTQ community and their allies in drag dancing the night away and winning tons of raffle prizes.

On Saturday, June 20, ShanghaiPRIDE Film Festival held a special screening in honor of Nordic Day with a full schedule of queer-themed short films from Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden shown to audiences throughout the day and delicious Nordic refreshments.

That evening was the Pink Party, Pride12’s final celebration, with plenty of dancing, raffle prizes, and jubilant party-goers in every shade of pink.

Pride12 then drew to a close on Sunday, June 21, with Pride Talk. At this intimate community event, a group of LGBTQ individuals and allies shared stories about life under the rainbow, including a broadcast journalist’s coming out story, a woman’s experience being trans and living in two different countries, and a man’s experience getting married and divorced from a woman and then a man.

This year, ShanghaiPRIDE made several scheduling changes to protect our community and follow the best safety practices in light of COVID-19. The silver lining to this unique situation is that ShanghaiPRIDE has more exciting Pride events in store for later this summer, including Pride Art and the ShanghaiPRIDE Film Festival. Stay tuned for scheduling and further details.

ShanghaiPRIDE is one of China’s longest-running Pride festivals. It is powered entirely by volunteers, whose commitment, hard work, and enthusiasm make the festival a success year after year. We at ShanghaiPRIDE would like to extend a special thank you from the bottom of our hearts to this year’s volunteers—the festival would not have been possible without you. ShanghaiPRIDE would also like to thank our sponsors and consulate partners for their support. Pride12 sponsors include Platinum Sponsors Absolut and Brooklyn Brewery, Gold Sponsors Diesel and Run Hai Lane, and Campaign Sponsor TBWA. Consulate partners include the consulates of Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden.

For more information or to help support the festival, contact ShanghaiPRIDE via email, WeChat or Weibo or visit shpride.com.