All language subtitles for Southern.Pride.2018.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-ZTR

[wine pours]

[clink]

[ethereal music]

- I, Donald John Trump will
preserve, protect and defend,

the Constitution
of the United States.

- So help me, God.
- So help me, God.

- Congratulations,
Mr. President.

[cheering]
- Yeah!

[triumphant music]

- You know, everybody
came to me and said,

"Man, Lynn, you run a
gay bar in Mississippi."

You know?

"Geez, aren't you
scared shitless?"

- This actually shows
where America's at.

And it's not together.

Had nothing to do with Trump,

he just pushed the right
buttons within ourselves.

America needs one
huge fucking mirror.

- It's gonna be 20 minutes
before I'm serving again.

I was gonna buy mayonnaise.

I don't know what to say about,

I'm sorry I didn't
buy mayonnaise.

Where's the pepper,
pepper, pepper, pepper?

Cheeseburger.

There you go, and thank y'all
for shopping at the Just Us.

No, no, I was telling
you to pick that up.

- She wound up giving me
a bartending job here,

and she was my boss
for several months

before we started dating.

October made a year that
we've been legally married,

but we had a commitment
ceremony almost 13 years ago.

- [Woman] Put it on the bottom--

- [Lynn] Close it
up, close it up.

- My name is Lisa Brucehard.

I am straight.

I am the infamous
twin of Lynn Covalt.

At times, I don't feel I exist.

You know, I've been called Lynn

many times in my life.

It's frustrating at times.

We're both Capricorns.

She wants to be right,
I wanna be right.

So, you know, we have
that issue sometimes.

- I was very lucky to be
accepted into this family.

15 years before I started
working behind the bar,

I was always doing shows
and production numbers,

and doing the group
thing with everybody.

Spent way too many Wednesday,
Friday, Saturdays in here.

- We do some weird stuff
down at that little building.

Straight people call us JU

so they don't have
to say Just Us.

[laughs]

Because Biloxi's a small town,

but we're open 24/7.

We have a lot of people
that don't get off

until 2:00 or 3:00
in the morning.

So when they get off,

they wanna eat and
have a few drinks.

Biloxi's very small.

It's literally an
eight block down,

eight block across.

It's a little square.

Kind of on a little island.

There's a bridge right there.

Biloxi's its own little town.

The Gulf Coast is definitely,

you have Gulf Port, Biloxi,

Ocean Springs, Bay St. Louis.

It's a 20 minute
ride from each one,

but every little
town's different.

[soft music]

New Orleans right down the road.

- They're family and they
all take care of each other.

They fight like family,

but they always
come back together.

My name is Janna Riley.

I'm from Vicksburg, Mississippi.

I moved here in January.

Met Steph at the bar.

We started dating at that point.

[seagulls calling]

- We don't always get
right to the point,

sometimes we wanna
talk about grandma,

and Uncle Ed, and Bobbie Sue,

before we get to, and so you
got my daughter pregnant.

[soft music]

- Anybody that owns a gay bar,

they need to spiritually think
about what they're doing.

'Cause the moment
you open your doors,

there is an immediate need.

And if you're not gonna
cater to the community

to which you serve,

then understand that
it's more than a bar,

you've missed the mark.

We're the only gay
bar for many years.

Back in '96 it
raised some eyebrows.

There was some push back.

Back then, the issues
were staying safe,

and being together.

We forged the friendships.

We came out to our neighbors,

and we mend the fence.

We did the random
acts of kindness.

We showed them who we were.

They need help with rent,

or they need medication,

or they need a
doctor's appointment.

There's no telling
what the need is,

and they've always come to us.

- My wife and I come
here all the time.

And we get treated here so good.

Miss Lynn, she's
got a heart of gold.

- It's always been a
place we could come.

We've never had any issues

with being able to
express ourselves.

- Everyone was very accepting.

And I've had more
fun at this place

than I've ever had
at any other bar.

- This is the gays of our lives.

[laughs]

And it is all fun and festive.

We are like the true housewives
of Southern Mississippi.

- It just progressed
into what it is now,

because now it's all welcoming.

We're very welcomed
in the community.

The bar cleaned the area up.

A prostitute would be
standing out there,

and they were doing drug deals,

breaking into the cars.

But once Lynn had been out in
this parking lot long enough,

the people that
lived in this area

knew that she wasn't
playing around,

then they kinda
quit a lot of it.

You know, for many, many years,

we did one benefit
after another.

Some of them raising
as much as $20,000.

Very proud of my sister.

- She's the mom.

She takes care of everyone.

She shoulders
everyone's problems.

- She wears many hats,

and sometimes I
have to reel her in,

I guess you could say.

- I ended up
meeting Lynn because

I was bored at
home after Katrina.

And all these years later--

She's always been there for me.

- Lynn is my boss. [laughs]

I love her to death.

Sometimes it's like a
family member that you love,

and you still wanna shake
the shit out of them,

but you still love
them, no matter what.

- I've hired people for
many different reasons.

Like Danielle, you know.

Danielle has blossomed into a
great little bartender for me.

But she didn't come this way.

Danielle was one of the drag
queens that took my stage,

and she's phenomenal with it,

but she is also transgender,

trying to live a life on
the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

And it was increasingly
hard for her

to do that and stay employed.

- They asked me if I'm afraid

to be in here by myself,

or if I ever think of it.

And I don't, until
certain events happened,

and I really questioned
whether or not

I should stay here.

Because, in my daily life,

I pretty much avoid
any kind of conflict

or contact with
people I don't know.

Just because,

I don't know if it's
because I'm afraid,

or if it's just because

I'm terrified.

Three transgendered
murders this year alone.

And were just now
getting well into March.

- Tonight we're
talking about two

high profile murders

Both of the victims
were transgender

and performers in
this community.

Both very well known.

Chyna Gibson was shot
and killed one week ago.

Daphne Dupree, and activist
in the transgender community

says, even though police
are not linking the deaths,

both are concerning.

- Chyna was in the
theater that night.

[somber music]

She was, other than
her being beautiful,

she was very beautiful
inside and out.

She always loved to smile.

I've never actually
seen her upset.

Even when she was upset,
she was laughing about it.

[somber music]

That happened to
Chyna, then just days,

or maybe a week later,
that happened to Ciara.

Then once that popped up,

somebody in
Shreveport, Louisiana.

It was just getting
to be too much.

- A transgender woman has
been killed in Louisiana.

The third such
case in one month.

Jaquarrius Holland was killed

in Monroe, Louisiana
on Feb. 19th.

Police responded to
reports of a shooting,

and found Holland unconscious

with a gunshot
wound to the head.

- I felt like a little bit of my

reality bubble had been pierced.

- What keeps me
staying is the people

that I most care about,

and that I feel
most care about me,

are in here all the
time to support me,

and I feel like if they're
here to support me,

and my bar, and my community,

I can't just run away from them.

- They have people that don't
really have their families.

I mean, if you don't have
other people to turn to

and you can't turn
to your family,

where else do you go?

It's like that's it.

You know?

So I'm kinda, oh,
it's bothering me.

[somber music]

Chyna, she turned out
to be a very positive

role model for
young girls herself,

because she did a lot
of positive things

with her transition, and
moves she was making,

name changing, and
being on her hormones,

and really just working
all her feminine.

She was very, a lot of people
looked up to her for that.

[somber music]

- [Interviewer] When you were
in part of your transitioning,

did you have to deal a
lot with the black market?

- Yes.

Even like my first time
having black market silicone,

I just thank God that
everything happened all right,

but I had so many
things done at one time,

I know I wasn't
supposed to do that.

Because you put in an
illegal foreign substance

in your body, your body has to--

yeah, just get adjusted to that.

And there are several
of my friends that

have died because of it.

It's basically like you're
dying just trying to live.

Does that make sense?

- [Interviewer]
Makes perfect sense.

- Oh wow, I just
thought about that.

[soft music]

- The transgender
community don't want to be

viewed as, you know,
second class woman.

I'm a woman, no matter
how people view me,

or how science deemed me.

[soft music]

I grew up, I was born here
right on Mississippi Gulf Coast,

wearing my sister's
clothes, playing with dolls.

At church, when I
was a kid growing up,

we did Sunday School.

I found out that my aunt,

who came out as a lesbian,

was going to hell
because she was gay.

And that's when I realized that

I too was gonna
be going to hell,

because I was gay.

Or at least at the time
what I thought was gay.

As long as I faked
it in front of

my family and my church,

then everything would be okay.

But,

that wasn't a very
healthy time for me.

- It's neat to see how
far Danielle has come.

She could live her life
the way she wanted to.

- It felt great to have a
place where I could come to,

and family that
was more accepting

than I've every
been accepted, ever.

I was able to dress
the way I wanted to,

I could act the way I wanted to,

I could be my open,
free self even.

Pretty much the main
factor in letting me be me.

I know it's not as PC, but
I didn't even know tranny

was a bad word to say.

I've only ever been offended
once by the term tranny.

And that's because I
was in a mechanic shop,

and someone turned to the
lady behind me and said,

"Oh I'm sorry, but
that tranny is busted."

And I was almost offended
'cause I thought they meant me,

but then I realized, you
know, it's a mechanic shop,

and they were not talking
about me. [laughing]

- Many years ago,
I chose to invest

in people and not things.

So I definitely
don't have things,

and I have been, over
the last few years,

dealt with a lot of heartbreak.

- I've watched her
lose everything,

and still give,
and give, and give.

If you walk in the
door and you need

$60.00 for your prescription,

and we might need to
pay the water bill,

but you're gonna get the
$60.00 for your prescription.

- I do take a lot of it on.

But it's just because
I see a vision,

and it's my passion.

It is the vessel to which
I work my convictions out.

It is the vessel, it's
the only vessel I have.

It's the only vessel
the community has.

I'm very proud of the gay
community on this coast.

I'm proud of the
community period.

If you ask someone
what pride means,

they'll tell you,

rising about the
physical altercation,

the assault of it all.

So for a minority
community that allowed

a gentleman to
take the presidency

that has enabled an open season

type of mentality on aggression,

it's time, it's time
to have a Gay Pride.

I need it.

This is gonna be
our first Gay Pride.

It's just never been done.

And it's a huge undertaking.

We have six months to pull
it off, and it's exciting.

[laughing]

Mississippi don't
know what's coming.

- I think a Pride
would be great.

I think it's great
for the youth.

It's the only
reason I'm involved.

Show them that we
always stand together.

When I went to Washington
for my first Pride,

there was hundreds of
thousands of people like me,

not just the 30 people I knew.

And ever since then, Pride's
been a meaningful thing for me.

- In this country, all
of a sudden, it's okay.

It's okay to hate someone
for whatever they're doing

that you don't agree with.

So for me, that's why
it's important this year.

- We've never actually
had one right here

for our Coastal community.

- It's imperative that
we have it this year.

So we're working quickly on it,

and it will culminate in
a big meeting tonight.

When you think about what
we're gonna name this,

I want you to think about
the politics of this year.

- I'm not saying that
it has to not say gay,

but does it have to
include it in the title,

can it have a name, and
then underneath it put,

yes, it's our Gay Pride?

- Oh by the way, we're gay.

I mean.

- [Man] On a rainbow flag,
it's going to be gay.

- I think we've
blended in enough.

- [Man] I think it's too soon.

- I think the pressured,
blended in lifestyle

that we have had to have,
and live, is enough.

It's time to come out
of the damn closet.

We are gay.

- We can't you have
this organized event

and very quietly say, oh
this is the Gay Pride.

We're either gonna
do it, or we're not.

They're feeling threatened now.

Things, gay rights
have come a long way,

and now it seems like we're
gonna go backwards, you know.

And I can't even say that's
because of the South.

That's politics today.

They're very scary.

- A lot of years went
into obtaining the right

for me to have, and
to call Tammy my wife,

and it be a legal,
binding situation.

To think that all of that
could be erased by a pen

is worrisome, beyond worrisome.

But it goes bigger than that.

- [Man] Well when are we
going to the other people,

when are we gonna know by then?

Who will take care of each task?

[various chatter]

Within an hour, you're
gonna name something

that's so important to us?

- I'll tell you this.

Me and the crew of Just Us,

will be beyond
nervous if at the end

of the next big meeting,

we're not ready to
embark on the journey.

It was driving me nuts

'cause it was all
over the place.

- I don't know what
the first one was.

We need to focus.

We need to focus.

- Does anybody have
anything they wanna say?

- I do.

My name's Jeffrey Mayou.

I don't know if you all
realize as a first year event,

you have banners
that are to be made,

y'all having events,
y'all having taxes,

y'all have insurance
that needs to be paid.

Y'all have to
secure the location.

I would definitely
suggest that y'all

find an organization, or
we find an organization,

if you can carry under
someone else's non-profit,

you would actually
be very beneficial.

- I don't understand all
this technical red tape.

Guys,

if you threw a
party at your house,

would it have all
of this, really?

- Those first two
meetings that we had

were a little all
over the place,

and I was like
oh, I got nervous.

And I kinda even left during

the middle of the second one.

- We bit off a little bit
more than we could chew.

- It has been frustrating.

It was very chaotic.

- After the second
one, me and Janna kinda

put our heads
together and was like,

well, let's try to change
the direction of this.

[upbeat music]

- I love Mardi Gras.

Anything goes.

This is the biggest Coast party.

[upbeat jazz music]

[police sirens]

I haven't attended a parade in

I couldn't tell
you how many years,

but I still love Mardi Gras.

It's a night parade, and
the floats will be lit.

Right up until
the parade passes,

Toni Dee and friends
take the stage,

so it's gonna be a blast.

Anyway, happy Mardi Gras, guys!

- [Announcer] Now Toni
Dee is officially ready

for his next number,
so take it away.

[cheering]

[techno music]

- Is that your perfume,

or did you have a
dog in this car?

- It's--

Mine's Chanel.

- I had my dog in the car,

rushing him to
the emergency vet.

Now what road are you
wanting to get down, guys?

- [Woman] Raynar, right here.

- [Woman] As close to the
Saenger Theater as possible.

- To the what?

- [Woman] Saenger,
if you turn here.

- I gotcha, I gotcha.

- [Woman] Thank you, Lynn.

- It's fun because it turns
you into a little star.

[yells] Filming!

The children here is
the best part of it,

because it's a magic
thing for them.

So we take pictures with them,

and hug them and
give them beads,

and have a good time.

- Mississippi gets
a really bad rap.

When you're below I-10,

it's a completely
different world.

- I had never really experienced

north Mississippi before.

I've driven through
it plenty of times,

but I was born and
raised on the Gulf Coast.

- I go there and eat,
and come right back.

- You hear about all the
conservative Christians.

- I have never
worked above I-10,

because I don't travel.

[upbeat music, cheering]

[blues music]

[techno music]

- People feel uncomfortable
when they go somewhere that,

it's just not their race.

For example, there was
an older white guy,

and a younger guy,

they were just in town working.

They saw it was a bar,

so they just stopped,
you know, get a beer.

And so the guy come up
to me, "Yo, come here."

He was like, "Is my
kind welcome here?"

First thing popped in
my mind was, straight.

But he was actually
talking about his color.

And you know, I've
never been the type to

discriminate against anything,

'cause I wasn't raised that way.

You know what I'm saying?

And so he came in and,
got him a couple a beers.

The other guy went
outside and he told me,

"I don't think it's
his type of party."

He said, "But babe, I
had me a good time."

[techno music]

- People ask me, what
is the Exclusive?

Well it's a gay club.

'Cause I don't like
to point out race.

And I mean, yeah, the majority
of the people are black,

but I don't like
to point that out.

- Black gay bar.

Yeah.

[light music]

- Everyone that I
know, respects Shawn.

Respects what Shawn does,
respects Shawn's business.

- A role model.

A leader, innovator.

Someone who just comes
along and inspires

most of everything that goes
on around in this community.

- That's my dude, man.

[laughs]

That's my dude.

That's my buddy, man.

We've been riding for a minute.

- Jasmine, they
call me DJ Lady J,

which was given to me by Shawn.

She a really sweet person,

and I don't see how
nobody can love her.

This is my first go around,

being a lesbian with Shawn.

She did something to me,

and I'm stuck.

[slow music]

Me coming out didn't matter.

I was scared.

But she taught me
to not worry about

what nobody has to say.

We're all equal.

[slow music]

- I never wanted
to be a club owner.

That wasn't never in my plan.

But you know, when
the opportunity came,

I'm like, okay I need
to make a change.

Because you know, back in 2005,

I got into a little
trouble with the police.

You know, I had a clean record.

Never been in trouble.

I probably had maybe one
traffic ticket, I don't know,

but it was paid, I
had already paid it.

You know, this little weed that

really should've been
just a misdemeanor,

but it was in the
county that it was in.

I gotta go to the state pen,

for this little bit of
marijuana that I had.

I feel like it
was a racist deal.

And that kinda did
something to me.

I like my freedom.

And I don't like being
told when to go to bed,

when I can go outside.

We're not gonna take a bail.

None of that, you
know what I'm saying,

and that's what goes on there.

I mean, you get used to it.

You can't get out
until your time is up,

you know what I'm saying?

I had good days, I had bad days.

It just, you know bad days
was around holiday times.

I had never been
in trouble before,

and those are the people
they give a chance

to go up for parole.

It's like you're in
court all over again.

You gotta convince these people

that you changed, and
what your plans are

when you get out, you
know what I'm saying?

So I went before them
people again, parole board,

and a week later, they
told me I got approved.

And that's how it was.

And I was just counting those,

I was counting those
weeks down then

until it was time.

I knew I had to do
something legal.

[light music]

- Club Exclusive is the only
LGBT club/bar in Hattiesburg.

Hattiesburg is located
in the Bible Belt.

The people are kinda religious.

- Small towns don't have
these kind of clubs.

- Everything I do, I
try to do for the LGBT.

You know what I'm saying?

And we are actually
in the process of

getting ready for a Pride.

- She really, like
deep down in her heart,

wants the community
to come together,

the whites and the blacks.

- If we do it together,

we gonna have a mixture.

Whether it's the
people you know,

and the people I know,

so now we got a
mixture of people,

and then more people
are seeing that.

That would have
changed the whole scene

here in this town.

But it's not that way.

Am I gonna keep pushing
for it to be that way?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

You know, it just all depends on

how things go.

- Right now, race
is a big thing.

- I have seen race.

But I haven't seen it
this bad in a while.

And I have been experiencing it

for the last three months now.

- USA, USA!

- You wanna fuck with us.

[yelling]

Calling me all kind of niggers,

and flipping me off.

- It's been in these people,

but now they're just not afraid.

It's everywhere, I see it.

My job, what ever else.

USA! USA! USA!

Donald Trump brought a
lot of that out, man,

out of a lot of people.

- I feel like I have
to watch my back here,

watch my back there.

Look out, make sure no
one's gonna attack me.

- The least you wanna do when
you go out and enjoy yourself,

is to have a safe
environment to be around,

and Shawn keeps that
safe with security

at the door before you walk in.

- We need those safe places,

'cause a lot of people
don't feel safe.

When I met her, she
was carrying a knife.

I mean--

- I was scared of everything.

- I said, look, you don't
have to do that with me.

I got you.

- I just pray that
my people be careful.

Always be aware of
your surroundings.

You gotta be, so you
know how to react

when it's time to act.

[radio static]

[peaceful music]

- You know, I never thought
that the possibility

could be that I
could be sitting next

to a die hard Trump
voter in my bar.

But I can be.

- [Interviewer] You
voted for Trump, right?

- Hoo. [sighs]

I did.

I did.

Not gonna lie.

I would not say that in the bar.

- We don't talk
politics with Lisa.

- I don't, I tried to talk
politics with Lisa one time,

a very long time ago.

It just doesn't work out.

- She's a die hard Republican.

- I've been looked at and said,

"Don't you tell me
you're voting for Trump."

And I just looked at
them and said, okay.

And I let it go.

They said that things got better

a couple of years ago.

I don't know where
they got better,

but it wasn't here.

And so, you know, that
was my frustration.

And so that was made
me make that decision.

- It's just kind of ironic

that the reason why
I'm even in this place,

I saw this really cool thing

called the revitalization
of downtown Biloxi,

and I said, I gotta get in
the ground floor of this.

And that revitalization
of downtown Biloxi

has yet to occur,
it never happened.

What we did get was Katrina.

[somber music]

I've only closed twice, both
times was due to hurricanes.

I have been locked since.

We opened up after Katrina.

- Even if a hurricane's
coming here, you know,

they usually come in and out,

nothing serious,
and it just happens.

And Katrina just happened.

It's a [sighs],

it's the biggest wake up call,

and the biggest eye opening
experience of my life.

[somber music, heart beating]

- We got hit with
a 30 foot surge.

The Back Bay met the Gulf.

- The water came up,

and it got pushed
up into the bay.

So it was just one
big push of water,

just come in.

It came back.

It sucked most of it
back into the ocean.

The beach was covered with

anything you could
possibly imagine.

It smelled really bad, it
was hot, it was August.

It was crazy after Katrina.

People, a lot of people
lost their damn minds.

They just went crazy.

A lot of people left.

I got really depressed
after Katrina.

I didn't realize I
was really depressed,

but I left for like two days,

and I came back, I
couldn't get to the house

I was living in at the time.

The house that was
three houses up from me

was in my front yard.

You couldn't find
any place to live

because everything
was wiped out.

So rent shot up.

So we were all living together.

- There had to have been
at least 12, 13 people

that came and stayed at
the house, at my house.

As soon as the winds died
down, we got down here.

Come off the interstate, and
the building looked intact.

Got to the front door
and I saw the pool table

dislodged into the front door.

Everything was just
turned upside down.

It was a wash.

Shocking.

- [Interviewer] Is
that the hardest thing

I guess the bar
has had to endure?

[somber music]

- I think as a
community, yes, yes,

because of the
things and atrocities

we had to see afterwards.

- Everything was destroyed.

There was just slabs
where homes used to be.

There was still dead
bodies in the ditches.

[somber music]

We got, we kinda got forgotten.

You wake up one morning from
being able to go to McDonald's,

and the next morning you
wake up and nothing's open.

Unless you prepared
and you've got food,

you have no food.

You have no toilet tissue,

you have no running water.

We got wiped out.

Wiped out.

- The worst part of it
for me was the silence.

The very loud silence.

How everything can
just turn upside down

and never be the same
again in just a day or two.

It was only about a mile
to my parent's house,

but that mile
seemed like forever.

As I'm climbing
through the trees,

I couldn't think
of anything but,

what am I gonna see when
I walk around the corner?

And when I did, of course, I
saw my mother in a tube top,

and my dad was grilling
outside. [laughs]

And, you know, they acted
like nothing had happened,

other than our roof was gone.

And I cried like an idiot,

with my little
mother holding me.

- The most incredible thing
that I've experienced is,

after the storm, the
community came together.

And this became the point,

everybody came to the building.

We had a big old sign out front,

everybody'd mark their names off

if they were alive or dead.

We were looking for people,

trying to bring us
all back together.

- Some of the best people
I know came and rescued,

and gave everything they had,

just to make sure that
little piece of community

got put back together.

- We all came together
in this community

and started cleaning
up the trash.

The customers, the employees,
they all came together.

- That was more
important to them,

to put us back together,

than it was to put
themselves back together.

This is part of the crew.

This is us taking a break

from gutting it.

[triumphant music]

[intense music]

We are at the Point Cadet,

we're out on the Point
on the water, in Biloxi,

and we are at the staging area

for the first Gay Pride event.

I think the location is great.

It has a pavilion, it has
kitchens, it has bathrooms.

We wouldn't have
to rent porta-lets.

What I need the group to do

is to concentrate on fundraisers

that involve the
utilization of this bar,

and/or its property.

Okay?

Look guys,

I have to run a bar, okay?

And I have kept my
calendar literally opened.

I'm not comfortable with that.

I usually book three and
four months in advance.

You know, my summer
months are coming.

I'm looking at bands,
I'm looking at comedians,

I'm looking at shows, I've
gotta get those booked.

[upbeat music]

- [Interviewer] What do you
wanna achieve here today?

- Awareness.

- [Interviewer]
Awareness to what?

- To Gay Pride in June,
and the Pride event,

the first one ever on the
Mississippi Gulf Coast,

and just promote the
community in a positive way,

and I suspect that in
introducing ourselves

to some people
throughout the day

that we may even
change opinions.

Are you nervous?

- No, I'm not nervous.

I'm hanging the fucking
flag in North Biloxi.

- I'm a little confused,
are you joking with me?

Are you honestly leery of
hanging up a flag out here?

Be honest with me.

- Pardon my proper
upbringing, but--

- [Lynn] [laughing] Shit.

- [Woman] He said the flag's
hanging the wrong way.

- You know, I kept
looking at that,

but we were so
miserable this morning

when we put it up, and
the wind was blowing.

We were just trying
to get it up.

But you know, you're right.

And wow, I can't believe
we didn't nail that.

- You know what, no
worries, no worries.

- We're throwing the
first outdoor Pride event.

What's your name sir?

- Matthew.

- My name is Lynn,
nice to meet you, baby.

- Nice to meet you too.

- I'm with Just
Us, and I'm part of

throwing the first Pride event.

- [Matthew] Cool.

- It's gonna be great, honey.

Be looking for us.

- [Matthew] I'm looking
forward to it, thank you.

- Please do.

That was a big one.

I think we left them
with more questions,

but excited that it's coming so,

I'm off to the sunset.

Steph didn't wanna
work my barbecue.

The only thing I can
say about that is

I opened 21 years ago,
and invited the community

to work out their convictions.

She should've
played a role in it,

and to make damn sure
it was a positive role.

- [Interviewer] You
didn't feel completely

100% behind coming here
and doing this today.

- I did not, I didn't.

- [Interviewer] Why not?

- I was afraid there
would be a lot of folks

that some issues would come up.

There'd be a little bit of
resistance or something.

But there wasn't, I
was completely wrong.

- Part of the reason
that Lynn felt

like everything was on her,

was that she wanted every update

on every detail that
everybody was doing.

So I just kinda stepped back.

Lynn has this huge
sense of responsibility,

along with just a control,

a need to control everything.

If something happens
the wrong way,

she's the face of it.

[airy music]

- Today's the benefit,
well one of the benefits.

What we're doing is we're
gonna sell plates of crawfish.

That's the way to do it.

Crawfish.

Got it?

I don't know if I should
start drinking now or,

now.

[light music]

Where are the potatoes gonna go?

- I don't know, ask Gene?

- Gene, I don't know why
he needs his bag back,

but he doesn't know what you

wanna do with these potatoes?

- Where's the trays?

- Lisa, trays!

- The hardest thing about
begin Lynn's sister,

is to be standing
there and watching her

twirling around
and trying to say,

please stop, please stop.

- I should get painted

so it encourages everybody
else to get painted.

So let's do it, get it done.

All right, yeah.

- So if I put a
flag in his hand--

- Try a spicy one out.

[suspenseful music]

[coughing]

Thank you, thank you.

If you feel like, I don't know,

working social media, trying
to get people down here,

that would be great.

So we only need to sell what,

20 plates for me to break even?

Is there a place where
they're all conjugating today?

It's Black Spring Break.

Where is everybody right now?

It's Black Spring Break,
where is everybody?

Where are the Black
Spring Breakers?

- Down on the beach.

[dance music]

- Black Beach is Spring
Break for all black colleges.

- It is called Black Spring
Break, it is, I know,

it's a little shocking to me.

It's all over the radio,
it's in the newspaper.

It's like a big deal.

- People tell me that this
is the newest destination

for Spring Break because
this just keeps on

getting better and better.

- Black Spring Break, this
is what it's all about,

baby, we're out here having fun.

[dance music]

- There are locals that
are totally against it,

don't want it, because
they leave a mess behind,

and the put the
city in gridlock.

- The traffic, you just,
I mean, it's unbelievable.

[honking]

[slow music]

- This shit ain't,
it's not spicy, Lisa,

it's so salty it's
not even funny.

- The last one?

- Fuck, yeah.

They're so salty, Lisa, that.

- [Lisa] I didn't
find them to be salty.

- I found them to
be extremely salty.

Not spicy, extremely salty.

And it worried me.

To the point where, [gags]
it choked me, you know?

That's how much
salt was in them.

And I sucked the
head, so I know.

What the fuck?

Aw, shit, Lisa I, beer.

It's all in your backseat.

Do you have anything
that can soak up,

anything in your trunk?

I dropped my beer.

Hi guys.

I have 20 boxes of
crawfish, $10.00 a box.

- [Man] Make it $5.00,
we're gonna buy them all.

- Oh, we're doing a benefit
at the bar down the street.

This is for a benefit.

- [Man] $5.00.

- Nah.

We're doing a benefit,
we got $8.00 a box.

$8.00 a box.

Did you get that?

I let them try one of these,

and the woman said,
immediately, too fucking salty.

I'm doing $8.00 a box, we
don't got no ones, do we?

Fuck me.

We didn't bring change.

You got any dollars?

We're gonna have to go back
to the bar and get change,

we're gonna have to get
ones and everything,

so that we can
sell all this shit.

Hey guys, $5.00 a box.

$5.00 a box.

$5.00 a box.

Is it just me?

- [Lisa] This is why
I wanna be aggressive.

- Well, then go at them, Lisa.

They obviously
could give a fuck,

because none of them can.

They're the most
rudest, fucking,

you know, they wanna know why,

you know, we're not
happy about all this?

'Cause they're rude,
they're fucking rude.

I'm sure there's people
that like to make it

a black thing, but it's not.

I'm just breaking
even, you know.

I'm just trying to
get my money back

so I don't bounce checks
first thing in the morning.

So every bit of
this was for naught.

We didn't make a dollar.

And guess what's gonna happen?

I'm gonna have to choke
out the thousand, $1500.00,

whatever the city
wants this week.

'Cause it didn't happen.

- She can be, even to a fault,

she will do her damnedest
to make everyone else happy.

Even if it screws
her over in the end.

- I have spent 20
years doing nothing

but looking at the gay
and lesbian community,

and never saying no.

Working under the
idea that I don't

need to know what you need,

I just need to
know that you need.

So yeah, it's going audacity.

To think that I
can't get support.

This is where we stand.

I am about $80.00
in the negative

from trying to get the word out

from the free booth that we got.

Hadn't put the numbers to it,

but not all the
investment came back

on the crawfish boil,

and we did not make one dollar.

I could blame it
on a lot of things.

I did wish I had foreseen
and thought to see

that it was going
to be Spring Break,

and that could've
been a deterrent.

But I don't know.

[static]

- Mississippi Gulf Coast
Spring Break weekend backlash.

- And I want some protection,

'cause I can't go
through this every year.

I'm not going through
it every year.

- A little racist that
they take and make

a Spring Break just
for black people.

I'm not against
it, but then again,

I think it should be a
Spring Break for everybody.

- They think we
owe them something.

I owe them shit.

- [Interviewer] Okay.

- I don't owe nobody nothing.

- From what I see in the news,

there has been a
negative connotation

put on it from some locals.

But I think you could
say the same for

Cruisin' the Coast,
all of those other

celebrations that bring
revenue to the Coast.

It depends on who you ask.

- Put me in something for me.

It's in there.

I don't even go to Black Beach.

I don't go.

I could.

You know, but if I went,

I would be going
to set up a tent

and stuff for the gays.

- Like I said, with
that Black Beach,

I don't even see why they give
them nice folks they money.

Me personally,
especially somebody

that doesn't appreciate you.

- Some people have
signs on they bathrooms

where they say no blacks.

Now this is what they
told me this morning,

I said I didn't go,

but if I woulda seen that,

you know what I'm saying?

Man, they said they had signs up

saying no blacks, like no
blacks can use this restroom.

Man, you think I'm lying.

- [Newscaster] Crews
continue to sweep

and clean up the roadways
and beaches in Biloxi

after the large turn out
for Spring Break weekend.

- They wanna put out
pitches on social media

like how the beach look,

it always look like
that after something.

This goes on every year.

Be prepared for it.

You have a lot of people

that come from
everywhere to come here.

You know what I'm saying?

And I feel like, if
you're gonna feel,

if you feel some
type of way about it,

beef up on your security,

but not treat them like animals.

There's a way to
say stuff to people,

you don't have to
come at people wrong.

That's just like if
somebody come at you

in a way that you don't like,

you're gonna retaliate.

That's another reason
why we need to do this,

as far as the Pride,
and Black Gay Pride.

You know what I'm saying?

- [Woman] It goes beyond LGBT.

- Yeah, black period.

[upbeat music]

It's the Unapologetic Black
Pride, Black Gay Pride.

Well you know, of course
I had seen earlier that,

we used to do it together.

So I just feel like it's
something that we need to do,

because we always against
each other, the blacks.

[light music]

[dance music]

- Well thanks to everyone here,

and our special Easter Bunny,

would you please come
out Mr. Easter Bunny?

Mr. Easter Bunny.

[laughs]

- I'm not gonna sit here and say

that the fundraiser
was successful

by any stretch of
the imagination.

Certainly not compared
to what I know

we have done and achieved.

- I have been a little

set back at the lack
of participation

by a good portion
of the community

that I really expected to

step up and join in.

- The last time I
heard from Janna,

they, I, look, I can
show you messages.

Hello, what's going on?

And she never called me,
never picked up the phone,

never answered my call.

I sent them both messages.

This lasted for over a week.

- Everybody got really

disheartened really quickly.

[light music]

No progress was being made.

So at that point, it
was just kinda natural

for me to take the
things that I knew

I was ultimately responsible for

away from the group.

- [sighs]

I started this trying
to shine a light

on something that felt good.

You know, I had, we
had done it for so long

that I was actually at a place
where I turned around and,

and I stopped for
a moment in life,

and I looked back,

and I was proud.

You know, the community
grew old together.

And I say old, I'm
have the same people

around me for 20 plus years.

In some instances,
we grew apart,

and I'm still on the same track.

And a few of them
left the track,

chose another direction.

And that's heartbreaking.

[soft music]

- Machetta, Mississippi,
home of where, well,

what used to be Rumors.

My name is Rick Gladdish.

I owned the place from
1998-2005.

Now it's a church.

It's a Baptist Church.

I would actually like to
come down for a service

just to see what the building
looks like on the inside.

Sit there and think
about what all went on

in different places
and different areas

inside that bar while
it was a gay bar.

[soft music]

- There's two great days,

like a shrimp boat in a
bar owner's life, you know.

And then don't even
add the gay bar,

but in a bar owners life.

That's the day they buy it

and the day they sell it, right.

What is the most compelling,

most successful
day you ever had?

- My last night
there, and I was like,

it'll just be a normal
night, people coming in.

No, there was probably,
I think we had to

turn people away, there was
200 people that showed up,

that were just like, this
bar has been our life.

You've been part of
our life for 10 years.

Bartending, running,
owning this bar.

I sat there, it was
amazing to see that.

- So you had an
overwhelming day,

you had 200 plus
people show up for you.

- To show up for me.

- Wow.

- I cannot believe
people actually

felt this way and thought this.

I want a bar, I
wanna do a bar again.

- I have a fear of
being where you are.

I'm not gonna say I'm
there, okay, because--

It's such a life thing with me.

- [Rick] It is.

- I never thought past it.

That is what it was going to be.

- When the bar closed, it
was always there going,

someone needs to step in,
somebody needs to do something.

That's the thing,
Tupelo has Missy.

And I said Tupelo
has no gay bar,

has no gay community center.

- So you're telling me
there's no gay bars in Tupelo.

- No.

- That's interesting.

I mean, I'm just
now realizing that

unless there's a bar that
I just don't know of,

and you might, but I'm
open 20 plus years now,

so I am now the oldest running
gay bar in the entire state.

- Yeah.

As far as I know,
there was for years,

there was the bar in Shannon,

and there was the
bar in Meridian,

there were the
bars on the coast,

that was it, that's
all Mississippi had.

- I had heard that there
was something going on

up in Hattiesburg, but it's
been brought to my attention

very recently that it's
been open for nine years.

[blues music]

- I'm focused on the blacks,

but I never wanna see it

that you can't come and support.

If I'm trying to run an
Unapologetic Black Gay Pride,

I need to keep everything
in the black community.

So if you want to come support,

you can come to us
sometime and support us.

We come all the time to y'all

to support whatever you do.

I had a guy, he put
the question of like,

why put black in
it, take that out.

You know, he was a black guy.

And I was like, what's
wrong with the word black?

You don't know what we
go through in my city.

You in another town.

So if I'm trying to
pull my city together

to where we can be,
have unity with us,

and stop all the
fighting with each other,

stop all the, we need to
start doing stuff together,

and uplifting each other
instead of all the time

slapping each other in the
face, it don't make sense.

This is my first time
doing this like this.

You know what I'm saying?

It's nothing to have
a little Pride party,

I can have a little
Pride party next month,

just call it a Pride party.

No, this is bigger than that.

'Cause not only do the,

we don't have unity in LGBT,

the blacks don't
have unity period.

If a lot of the older
ones like me will step up,

everything will be fine.

Because you got younger ones
coming up out of school,

If you don't teach them
how it's supposed to be,

that's where it's coming from.

They start cliquing
up in small groups,

hanging out, doing this and
that, people gonna talk.

It's a lot of he said she said,

and now you ready to fight.

You go, go, Mike!

Come on, go, Mike!
Go, go, Mike!

- I don't do violence.

I may look like it, but I don't.

You know what I'm saying,

but I don't get with that.

If I see somebody
arguing in my club

and I know them, you
best believe I'm in their

inbox contacting them,
they gonna come here,

and we gonna talk
about the problem.

We talk about the problem,

and see how can we
fix the problem,

and then we move on.

Life is too short for all that.

That may be why we've been
around as long as we have.

During the week, I'm
mostly either promoting,

doing flyers, or
stuff like that.

- [Interviewer] Do
you get stressed?

- Sometimes, 'cause
I'm constantly going.

You know, sometimes if
you stressed and tired,

your body will shut down.

You just gotta sleep.

I never get a break.

That's why, like
maybe it'll change

when I hire somebody to be
here everyday working for me.

And I won't have to
open every night.

For the last 10 years,
that's what I did.

It was fun at first,
but I'm older now.

I look at it a whole
'nother way.

Because I see how everybody is,

and so that's when I start

involving myself
with the community.

[slow music]

Here in Hattiesburg,

why we can't get along
and get stuff together?

I'm just trying to bring
unity with us first.

'Cause if I bring
unity with us first,

then we can go unify
with somebody else.

We can't go unify
with somebody else

if we ain't got unity.

That don't work.

'Cause I see a lot of stuff.

I see a lot of
things that go on,

that the other races may not see

that goes on with my people.

You see what I'm saying?

So if I could reach out to them,

and get them to see
there's another way,

we don't have to be this way.

You see what I'm saying?

That's my only goal.

[intense music]

- Now we have HB1523.

It sounds like some type
of disease, and it is.

- It is somebody's
lawful right now,

if I go with my
girlfriend out to eat,

and let's say the owner doesn't
agree with my lifestyle.

They do not have
to serve me at all.

I will be put out.

- [Newscaster] On Thursday,
a US Appeals Court

lifted an injunction that
blocked a Mississippi law

allowing businesses and
government employees

to deny services
to lesbian, gay,

bisexual and transgender people
by citing religious beliefs.

- It's not right,
period, it's not right,

that you can do that to me.

- This bill brings up a
whole nother set of issues,

and it brings out division.

And Pride is one
of the mechanisms

that we as a community are
gonna use to eradicate it.

- The representatives of
the LGBT community say

they're not giving up.

- [All] [chanting]
No hate in our state!

No hate in our state!

[crowd yelling]
Jesus loves everybody!

We are ready to start more
of a media campaign.

[static]

- Joining me now in
studio to talk about

a National Pride Day
are Janna and Lynn.

So can you guys just tell me

a little bit about this event?

How did it come together?

- To be honest, when
Trump made office,

we just found it was
imperative for this year.

- Our event starts at noon
at Point Cadet.

We have Gia Gunn, from
RuPaul's Drag Race

to start our drag show.

We hope that that's
gonna draw interest from

some of the surrounding
areas, not just Gulf Coast.

- We're fixing to, I've called,

tried to get ahold
of the beer company,

the guy's mailbox
is not set up so,

I can't leave a message.

So I'm gonna continue to try.

So it may be, it may
end up being this.

We're gonna have
to prioritize it.

And, hold on.

- I have a massive
amount of people

that are gonna be
here Saturday night.

All points of entry--

- They'll be opened up for you.

- If you can kinda clean
it up around the area,

and present it the
best you can for me,

then that's all I can ask at
this point and time, you know.

I still have not started my day,

and a deposit needs to be made,

and stuff needs to be picked up.

And I'm tired, you know.

Tired.

I just wanna stay on task.

- Do you want me to go ahead

and make the deposit
and pick the permit up,

or do you want me to stay here.

- No, go make the
deposit real quick.

And then get back.

And screw the permit for now,

I'll get it picked up later.

But it's the deposit that--

maybe it's me, I'm
losing my fucking mind.

Wow.

Lisa, give me the money, please.

Give me the money.

I gotta go.

- [Lisa] All right, be careful.

[upbeat music]

- Son of a bitch.

Is Max around?

Let me ask you something.

Are y'all tearing it all up?

Give me the inside scoop,

when are they gonna tear
this road up, do you know?

Now they've come
to me and told me

that it's gonna get worse,

they're fixing to
take the street out,

because it's a major line
they gotta do in here,

and it's gonna be out front
for six to eight months.

While this is still going on.

So literally what they're doing,

is they're cutting me
off, my entire business.

- [Interviewer] How do you get
into this bar at this point?

- You're not gonna be able to.

Five days.

Five days from now,

this place is gonna be
mercifully packed out.

This field is gonna be full,

that parking lot's
gonna be full,

it's gonna be full, they're
gonna be down the street.

And all I've got to say is

they better put Humpty
Dumpty back together again.

Make it a smooth ride for me.

I'm so pissed, I can't
even talk right now.

I'm, I'm--

I can't take this shit no more.

They're killing me.

Fucking killing me.

Y'all had a rough night?

- We would've been
here at 10:00.

We would've been here at 10:00.

- I thought we agreed on 10:00.

- We just, I think
we misunderstood.

- So we've got it 10:00,

and you were rushing
out the door,

the dog was jumping up around,

so I can see where
it got missed.

I got confused that y'all
might've thought it was 11:00.

I just had no idea
that y'all didn't know

it was today period.

- It has not been easy at all.

It has been stressful,

and I don't deal with
stress very well.

And sometimes I just
have to pull back,

and get stuff done
behind the scenes.

And that's what I felt like
I had to do at the moment,

was just, I had to
get some shit done.

And the best way to
do that was on my own,

making decisions by myself.

I'd run it by her, or
she'd run it by me.

- I will tell you that yeah,
it frustrated me, you know.

Can I be difficult to work with?

Of course I can be.

Yeah, I can be a raving
lunatic at times.

- I've wanted to strangle
her through this process,

but there have been
so many moments that

I was so proud of her
for having my back,

or for just saying,
okay, I trust you, Steph.

That meant a lot for me,

for my friend that I
know is a control freak

to look at me and
say, I trust you.

- I think we developed,
and we are going to show

just an incredible
product come Saturday.

- [Interviewer] Has anybody
looked at the weather?

- Rain or shine.

- I give it to
God, or my higher,

I give it to my higher power.

The day is going to be
what the day needs to be.

[thunder rolls]

Well everybody else is
freaked out about it.

I refuse to look at it.

I haven't looked at
one weather report,

nor one projection.

- [Newscaster] Overnight,
Tropical Storm Cindy moving in,

and dumping heavy rain
along the Gulf Coast.

Flooding concerns prompting
the Governor of Alabama

to declare a state of emergency.

[thundering]

- Where is just
starts moving west,

it just needs to start
moving.

It really is stationary,
it has to start moving soon.

- Yeah, 'cause if it just hangs
around out there over the water

it gets stronger.

- Tropical Storm Cindy
has winds of up to

45 miles per hour, but
it is nearly stationary

over the Gulf of
Mexico right now.

In Mississippi, they're
expecting up to 12 inches

of rainfall over the
next 48 hours in Biloxi.

[raining, thundering]

[soft music plays]

- I've been out in it
for the last two days.

I have been in every
store on this coast

checking the list off.

I've been put in charge
of all the small details.

It's so unpredictable.

I'm hoping today
was the worst of it,

but you know, some people
are asking lots of questions.

What if it rains, and what
if this, what if that.

I'm like pavilion,
pavilion, pavilion.

We have, I think a
90% chance tomorrow.

- It's blowing bad out here.

- [Reporter] Oil
companies quick to get

workers off those rigs.

The big fear, flooding.

People racing to protect homes.

[raining, suspenseful music]

- Tell me.

- I'm telling you, by
Friday morning 8:00 am,

the shit hits the fan in
Memphis, and we're drying out.

- You know how much
I trust you, do not.

- You should, I know
what I'm talking about.

I know what I'm talking about.

- Oh, Jesus.

[suspenseful music]

- Yeah, it's tomorrow.

It started two and
a half months ago.

- It's a--

- This is the rat race.

- It's the dreaded countdown.

I wanna throw up.

[intense music]

[inspiring music plays]

[lovely music]

- Somebody's gotta pay for it.

- The rain finally stopped.

- [Interviewer]
Can you believe it?

- I know.

- [Interviewer] Happy Pride!

- Happy Pride!

- [Interviewer] What
are you doing for pride?

- I'm working.

[light music]

- What y'all want?

Coffee, tea, or meat?

[light music]

- How y'all doing?

[cheering]

Oh yes, I am feeling
the love, my friends.

[light music]

- We have several campaigns
that we're working on.

Of course, against HB1523.

- We work for social
justice and racial equality,

and equality for LGBT
people in the community.

[light music]

- We come to support.

Come to support the Pride.

You know, they
trying to reach out.

So you know.

I come down to support that.

And also to promote my
Pride that's coming up.

[blues music]

- [Interviewer] This is Shawn.

- Hey Shawn, how
you doing, Baby.

It's finally good
to, I recognize you
from somewhere, Boo.

Do you wanna beer?

I'm gonna drink one too.

I don't know what this
day's gonna bring,

but we gonna do
it together, baby.

- It's good.

- I think it's the
most ingenious Pride

that you came up with.

- Vendors and
basketball children did.

- I'm coming.

We're coming, we're coming.

- I'm gonna need
you to come now.

- We coming.

- From my understanding,

we're trying to diverse things.

Right?

- Yeah.
- Diversity.

- It's all inclusive, it
always has been for me.

- But you got to have the
right people to do that.

It gonna have to be
blacks and whites

putting it together.

- Right.

- You see what I'm saying?

- Exactly.
- Yeah.

- Especially here in the South,

we need to make that
other line go away,

which is a line
that you can't see,

but everybody assumes,

and puts it there
between she and I.

Puts that line there.

We gotta work to make
that line go away.

- Mm-hmm.

- Don't you agree?

- Yeah.

And I'm all for it.

How you doing?

I got a Pride going on in July.

We are in search for vendors.

You can email us,
saying Exclusive,

and I will gladly email you

all the information
that you need.

I met a lot of great people,

and a lot of people
that understands,

and you know,
basically telling me

it's a good thing
that I'm doing.

I thought they were
gonna look at it like

she's being racist, no.

No.

This Pride here motivated me.

My Pride is not
called anything about

diversity or anything,
we will get up to that.

Then we can unify with this.

I gotta link up
with these people.

I feel like I gotta get a
good, strong committee board,

but it gotta be equal.

- [Interviewer] Absolutely.

- It gotta be equal
to make it work.

[blues music]

[upbeat music]

[cheering]

[upbeat music]

- Here we go, I'm
headed to the main stage

for the very first Pride
here in Mississippi.

Can't wait to see you guys.

[kisses]

Perfect.

Momma Rue has opened
so many doors

and really opened up
their minds to accept

that drag is an art form,
and this is for everyone.

[static]

[techno music]

The South, you hear all
these stories and things,

so I was a little
bit nervous, as I am.

I like it, the food is great,

the people are really sweet,

and it's really hot, but
that's why we have AC.

[cheering, applause]

[light upbeat music]

- One thing that I noticed,

definitely was the
outstanding amount of children

that were there, as
well as their parents,

and that's definitely
something that is

a big inspiration for me.

[light upbeat music]

The young people are the
ones that boost us up,

and I can only hope
to open more doors

for younger people to
continue this legacy,

and to continue to
break down these doors,

and make it as accepted
as we can as a community,

and as a whole world, really.

- I think it's great
that the young'uns,

all the kids I'm seeing.

Kids out here
playing in the water.

You know.

Kids.

Families.

Whew, what an incredible day.

[group chatter]

- The kids that showed up today,

the whole reason I wanted
to be a part of it,

they were here.

All this work, and
everything that's happened,

when the protesters showed up,

they has their signs,
they were ready for it,

and they ran out there,

and they were just
so peaceful about it.

And that one little girl,

she stood next to the
protester for like

two hours in this heat,
with her little flag.

- God loves everybody,

you ain't going to hell,
you ain't going to hell.

- It gave me hope.

The fact that I didn't
have to preempt.

The fact that
someone made signs,

and it just, you know,

my world just got huge today.

I came out of my
little world today.

- It was a good Pride.

It was a good turn out.

- Now we have a whole
younger generation

that is ready to start
fighting the fight with us.

- That might have got a little
bit on confidence today,

outside there,
'cause they all come

in a little circle of friends,

they're four or
five little friends.

And now they know,

there's a community here.

[music plays]

- We are done until next year.

[music fades]

- Pride is going great.

Everybody been working hard,
my team been working hard.

Staying up late, not only
getting the event together,

I'm talking to people every day,

you do the canned good
drive and stuff like that.

Back to school drives together.

So with this situation,
and this Pride,

I feel like I'm
doing what's right.

Now if somebody have
a problem with it,

I can explain to them, I'm not,

this is not about racism.

It's not about the white people.

It's not about the Mexicans,

or any other race.

It's about my people, because
I am black, and I'm proud.

- Black Pride is just
so, so, so, so important,

just because we're already
so divided as a people.

It gives this marginalized
community an opportunity

to come together and
do something positive.

- Black Pride is
important to me because

I think it expresses
freedom in every sexuality.

I feel like everybody should
be able to express they self,

in whatever color,
whatever way they want to.

- Events like this which brings

the LGBT community closer,
just spreads the love,

not only within
the LGBT community,

but the black
community as a whole.

It shows that we all can come
together and have a good time

without there being any
drama, or any mess involved.

- It don't stop at the Pride,

it's not gonna stop with me.

'Cause you know what,
it gonna be up to me

to bring us and
and them together.

They're not gonna come to me.

[light fun music]

[indistinct chatter]

[indistinct chatter]

[cheers]

[music continues]

[music plays]