For decades, members of the Black LGBTQ community have collectively converged upon the ‘city too busy to hate’ to experience a sort-of Black queer utopia that some would argue is unique to Atlanta Black Pride—a rite of passage; escapism from the rigid structure of corporate America, or the confines of living in a small conservative town rife with intolerance and religious bigotry. If it were any other year, the need to escape to celebrate with the community would likely be encouraged, but this is 2020. The impact of the deadly coronavirus pandemic has brought life as we once knew it to a screeching halt—well, everything but ‘Atlanta Black Pride.’ 

The 24-year-old Pride celebration that began as a small picnic in 1996, and has since morphed into the largest Black Pride in the world is scheduled to operate without interruption despite a surge in new coronavirus cases and deaths in Georgia, a White House Task Force report urging Republican Gov. Brian Kemp to issue a statewide mask mandate, and the absence of Pride 365, the non-profit organization better known as In The Life Atlanta—the original hosts of Atlanta Black Pride events.

There is some dispute as to whether or not the events scheduled for this upcoming Labor Day Weekend are actual Atlanta Black Pride events, although they are being promoted as such. 

Terence D. Stewart, Chair of Atlanta Black Pride tells CNP that “Atlanta Black Pride 2020 is a virtual event.” 

“If you are traveling to Atlanta during Labor Day Weekend, you are attending Labor Day Weekend events, not Atlanta Black Pride,” said Stewart. “Those events are hosted by the club and party promoters and are not affiliated with Atlanta Black Pride,” he added. 

Stewart’s objection to the use of the widely recognized title by the club and party promoters is in alignment with the organization's 2019 mission to “Reclaim Atlanta Black Pride, it’s legacy and ownership of its intellectual property.” 

“Atlanta Black Pride has been usurped, misrepresented and maligned over the past several years by various individuals and groups hoping to capitalize on the legacy of the organization,” wrote leadership in a 2019 press release still available on the official Atlanta Black Pride website. 

Party flyers for LGBTQ events scheduled during Labor Day weekend have saturated social media in recent weeks, surprising many people who under normal circumstances would be in attendance, but instead have decided to opt-out of participating to reduce their chances of contracting COVID-19. But not everyone is planning to sit this ‘Atlanta Black Pride’ out. 

One Black gay man, who asked not to be identified, says he will be traveling to Atlanta for Pride with friends from the east coast and is aware of the risks as he’s seen the devastating effects of COVID-19 up-close in his profession. 

“I work in a nursing home and we have lost 80 people,” he said. “It’s been draining and also depressing at times. I need a break from work like most of us do. My friends and I have talked about going back to ATL since visiting Pride the first time in 2017. We will be wearing a mask everywhere we go, especially during events during this Pride season,” he added. 

Wearing a mask to prevent the spread of COVID-19 has become a political lightning rod across the country and Georgia is no exception—with Gov. Kemp refusing to authorize a statewide mask mandate, instead, Kemp signed an executive order allowing local municipalities to implement mask mandates with heavy restrictions on August 15. That executive order is set to expire on August 31, days before the start of Atlanta Black Pride and despite, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health— 258,354 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 5,262 deaths in Georgia as of August 25. 

Warren Huntley, an Atlanta party promoter and CEO of Warren Huntley Presents, says his company is working to ensure that “guests are as safe and comfortable as we can make them while celebrating Black Pride in a new normal kind of way.” 

“We will be following specific COVID-19 procedures and guidelines with temperature checks, '' said Huntley. “Masks will be required for all of our bar and wait staff, and masks will be provided to our guests as an option,” he added. 

Huntley also says that upgraded outdoor spaces will provide an opportunity for patrons to social distance. 

Rockstars Productions, also an Atlanta based party promotions company, says on its website that “after a 90-day hiatus it’s time to resume operations.” “However, it won’t be business as usual. It is our intent to follow CDC guidelines and regulations to ensure the safest operations possible.” 

Why not postpone Atlanta Black Pride until 2021? 

Georgia was one of the first states to reopen following the initial wave of the coronavirus pandemic, and in some ways, is still operating as it did pre-pandemic in conjunction with mandatory changes that for many are viewed as a nuisance or an impediment to the public’s overwhelming desire to return to life as before. So the question becomes: If the show must go on, is it socially responsible to do so? Why not cancel Atlanta Black Pride until 2021? There is precedence established by other Black Pride organizations who made that exact decision. 

D.C. Black Pride, which is usually held over Memorial Day weekend each year, canceled its Pride celebration at the end of March as quarantine began for the first time in 30 years out of concern for the safety and well-being of attendees and the economic fallout from social distancing requirements. 

“Many members of our community aren’t working right now. They’re unemployed because everybody’s locked in the house,” said Kenya Hutton, D.C. Black Pride Program Director in an interview with D.C.’s Metro Weekly this past spring. 

“So it would be unfair and even selfish of us as an organization to expect folks to come out of this, and a month later, come to DC Black Pride — which in all honesty, is very expensive and can cost a lot of money, between hotels, transportation, et cetera — knowing that this whole country is experiencing financial hardship right now.

Dwight Powell, CEO of Sizzle Miami, a popular annual South Beach Miami circuit party for Black gay and same gender loving men also pulled the plug on this year’s event, citing health concerns on the official website as one of the reasons why Sizzle Miami would not return until 2021. 

“Like many of you, we’re also disappointed, but in consideration of the health and safety of our attendees, this is the most appropriate action to take. We want you to remain safe and encourage you to continue to follow directives from state and local officials as it pertains to the virus.” 

But as of now, it appears club and party promoters in Atlanta are taking the opposite approach by providing a product that is rising to meet consumer demand, while placing the onus on individuals within the Black LGBTQ community, many of whom with underlying conditions from our own ongoing epidemic and other health complications specific to people of color, to make the decision to attend their scheduled public events under the threat of COVID-19. 

Huntley reminds individuals planning to attend Labor Day Weekend events, and indirectly the critics who will disagree with his and other promoters decision to move forward, that “while our current state may definitely not be ideal, we are attempting to offer patrons the personal option to exercise caution and sensibility.”