Ain’t No Pride Like Autostraddle Pride Because You Get To See Each Other’s Faces, So Host An #AutoPride Meet-Up Already!

It’s getting hot out here, queermos, and you know what that means. It means soon we’ll all be basking in the sun at parades and sharing drinks on rooftop bars with other qt folks of varying genders and feelin’ ourselves all over town because IT’S PRIDE MONTH AND THIS IS HOW WE DO. So why not do it together?

PrideMeetups_Feature

All month, we’re inviting you — yes, you there in the cute crop top and biker shorts! — to host Autostraddle meet-ups and celebrate pride with some of the shiniest faces of wonder on the Internet. You in? Okay, good. Let’s make it happen!

To host a meet-up, all you have to do is make a series of complex emotional decisions that will shape the rest of your life. JK! You just have to make some choices in life, which we do every day, and then commit to them. You’ll need to decide when the meet-up is, where it’s happening, and what people are doing once they get there. (Drinking? Dancing? Painting themselves the colors of the rainbow before the Pride Festival starts? Frantically prepping slam poetry for Pride Night at the cafe? SOUNDS GREAT! ALL OF IT! I’D GO! DO IT!) It also helps to know how you want people to RSVP, whether it’s wearing a scissoring tee-shirt or joining your event on Facebook.

Then, you put all of it in your brain and mosey on overto our brand-spankin’-new events form and tell us about it. Once your event is approved, it’ll be on this very website, and we’ll round up all the events super soon into a post for you, so do not hesitate one second! 

I was hoping to give y’all time in May to really process and think this out, but A-Camp happened and in the end we all have dreams which are futile and will just haunt us ’til we die. It’s the thought that counts, though!

Also, I’m making up for it by giving you these beautiful images for your Facebook events, Twitter feeds, and Instagram feeds because hosting a meet-up is damn hard work and YOU DESERVE IT. Also because branding, but whatever. Don’t forget to use the hashtag #AutoPride all over the Internet and maybe tattoo it on your face this month, too! I wanna see everything and know all and I just can’t do that unless you post about it publicly on social media, so like.

If you’ve ever been to an Autostraddle meet-up, you know that the undeniable truth about everyone who reads this website is that the people who read this website are top-notch, totally adorable, empathetic, amazing human beings. I mean, I would know, because I just spent a week on a mountain with 300 of y’all and it was a fucking delight. Over the years, we’ve A-Camp’ed, brunched, and otherwise partied together and it’s been a rick-rollickin’ good time. Let’s keep the dream alive and make our pride celebrations bigger, better, and perhaps even wetter together.

See you soon, pride scouts. (Would it have been cooler for me to say “on the flip side?” Whatever.)

Oh, and if you have questions or concerns or, as always, pictures of dogs, feel free to post them in the comments or email me at carmen [at] autostraddle [dot] com. Love you, muffins!

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Carmen

Carmen spent six years at Autostraddle, ultimately serving as Straddleverse Director, Feminism Editor and Social Media Co-Director. She is now the Consulting Digital Editor at Ms. and writes regularly for DAME, the Women’s Media Center, the National Women’s History Museum and other prominent feminist platforms; her work has also been published in print and online by outlets like BuzzFeed, Bitch, Bust, CityLab, ElixHER, Feministing, Feminist Formations, GirlBoss, GrokNation, MEL, Mic and SIGNS, and she is a co-founder of Argot Magazine. You can find Carmen on Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr or in the drive-thru line at the nearest In-N-Out.

Carmen has written 919 articles for us.

84 Comments

  1. Just out of curiosity, have there ever been any meet-ups on the Gulf Coast? If there are straddlers that live in the Gulf Coast region (I’m talkin’ NOLA through P-COLA y’all), you should respond to this comment so we can have a meet up, because that would be AMAZING!!

    • There has been some very rare meetups here in NOLA, but i wanna start doing more. (I once did a brunchish thang here) We have a facebook group called New Orleans Straddlers. Look us up!!

    • Party at my place in Beaumont! Just kidding because I wouldn’t put y’all through that.

    • I’m in Jackson, MS right now (usually on the Coast) but I would totally be in New Orleans in a heartbeat.

  2. Oh gosh, so soon! I’m not emotionally prepared! Well, researching Baltimore pride and vacillating over whether I want to host a meet up will give me something to do to procrastinate on figuring out the details of my imminent move to Baltimore.

  4. So in Austin, our official Pride parade isn’t until August, and the unofficial pride rally was last Saturday (Queerbomb), but I’d be down to meet up if there’s interest, either in June or during Pride in August. Thoughts, Austinites?

    • I’m trying to get something together for Houston Pride, if y’all want to wander this way.

    • I have no time to plan cause I work full time and am in grad school. But if anyone else wants to, I’ll show up, for sure. Let me know about the Houston one, too!

  5. I can/will organise something for brighton (uk) pride, which seems to be on the 1st august. Co-organisers welcome – i’ve only been in brighton a few weeks…

    Also, is there a brighton facebook group? And if not, why not?

  6. I desperately wanna go to a London thing but don’t want to be the person to organise.

    ALSO anyone who wants to boycott London pride/do a ‘gay shame’ event or something cos of the all the crap organisations and corporatisation that who what now dominate it then holla at me plz. There’s a Queer Picnic and a few other things, but would be v up for other suggestions.

    Oh and has anyone heard about whether House of Brag are doing anything this year?

    And finally does anyone know if there’s a London dyke march this year? (From having googled a bit and looked on fb, it doesn’t seem so, but I’m hoping to be proved wrong.)

    • Sorry – I realise now that ‘don’t want to be the person to organise’ comes off as incredibly selfish. I just mean that I’ve never been to an AS meet-up and would feel nervous and overly-imposing were I to take the reins.

    • Used to help organise bits and pieces for AS London, but increasingly overwhelmed by my degree – I have an exam a few days after pride so won’t be making it, but hopefully something’ll happen.

      House of Brag seems to be pretty quiet – the facebook page looks like it’s down, and the twitter’s not v active. It’s sad, the anti-Pride stuff they did last yr was v cool, friendly, wish I’d made more of it – I still think about some of the stuff discussed.

    • I was so excited because Pride is on my birthday and this is my first year being out, but then all the UKIP/sponsor bollocks happened so I’m doing something else instead on that day. Any other pride weekend events (or other London AS events) and I will be there with bells on.

      • Was wondering about that too. I host trivia at Lipstick on Tuesdays, and considered making that a meet up the week of our pride, but not sure if that sounds fun to anyone? Let me know, I can save tables and such.

  8. Cologne, Germany? Anyone? I’m not sure I’ll be able to go but are there even any straddlers from the area?

      • I’ve got you both covered, living in both towns (though working in Cologne.) If you’re up to anything let me know! I’m kinda weird but absolutely into meeting new people.

        • OOOh! There are more of us! Sind sie Deutsch oder Ausländer?
          My wife and I are pretty new to Frankfurt so keen to make some new queer friends! :)

          • Welcome to Frankfurt, then! It’s actually quite a nice place if you come to know it a bit better. I’m german, btw, but don’t let that bother you.. ;) I’m mostly in Frankfurt at the weekends, but will be in town longer come summer. Drop me a message if you feel like having coffee sometimes.

        • Danke! Ganz im Gegenteil! Ich bin halbe Deutsch und möchte üben mein Deutsch. Mein vater ist Deutscher, aber wir haben kein deutsch gesprochen wann ich wurde kind zu Häuser in Australien. Ich habe mehr lust auf Deutschen als Englander oder Amerikaner zu treffen!

          • Ich bin leider nicht in Frankfurt oder in der Nähe Zuhause, aber ich kann mir vorstellen, im Sommer auf ein Treffen vorbeizukommen. Wenn wir schon mehrere Leute wären (Fayet, Darcy, …?), dann würde sich das wirklich lohnen.

            Wir können auch gerne Deutsch schreiben, falls du üben möchtest. :)

    • When would you want to meet up? I am not located in neither Frankfurt nor Cologne. I could catch a train, tough, if I don’t have any exams around that time.

      Es freut mich, auch ein paar Landsleute hier zu treffen :)

      • Ah, viele sind wir hier nicht, glaube ich..

        I know I won’t make it to Pride in July, as my schedule is currently crazy. But otherwise I’m around – not sure when a good time for meeting would be? Simply catching drinks and chatting would be nice. Message me if you feel like arranging something.

  9. YAS KWEEN!

    This Australian will be in MYC for Pride, so I’m pretty excited about a-being able to attend NYC Pride, and b-attending an AS meet up.

    • I always feel kinda left out this time of year, because we Vermonters have to wait so long for our Pride, while everyone else is out celebrating . . . :/

      Also, I’d love to know if anything is being organized for a meetup in Burlington, since I don’t really know anyone.

      • I don’t know anyone either! I have health issues and no space so I wouldn’t be able to go about planning anything myself right now. But I would love to meet folks in the area!

    • I wish I was there! Beautiful country – with really beautiful people, in every sense of the word ;) I hope you find some ‘compatriotas’ to celebrate pride with :)

  14. Any Straddlers in the Piedmont Triad area of NC that wanna meetup and be sad about the fact that it’s just too damn hot for pride in June so we have to wait until October? Slash we don’t have to be sad, we can have a picnic or something

  15. I know Gay Days/Girls in Wonderland (I had a BLAST at GIW) just ended, but let’s do something in Central Florida!

  18. Madrid? Anyone? xD
    I’m going there with some friends to spend the pride weekend (3-5 July). I have no place to co-host, but we could hang out there in the open ^^

  19. Salt Lake City pride just happened but we should still totally have a meet-up, plz!

  25. Sydney Straddlers:

    Even though Mardi Gras was months ago, and we are in the “why don’t I have a fire in my house?” time of year… lets meet up and remember all the wonderful sparkly things we love about Straddlers. Because it’s never to cold or wet for PRIDE.

    11am Berkelouw Books, 19 Oxford St, Paddington, Sydney. https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Berkelouw+Paddington/@-33.882736,151.220028,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x6b12ae1a96eced17:0x195c89d20d0ef62a

    Other details available on the Autostraddle Sydney FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/399973670073235/

  27. I would offer to host but

    1.) I don’t think WNY folks necessarily want to drive all the way up to the mountains.
    2.) potentially more problematic, I have no fixed abode, but the place I’ve been camping is a sweet site that me+boater friends have been making even more legit (there’s now a table and a communal grill/spatula/tongs for the fire pit and it’s well-stocked with wood).

  29. LA straddlers: I’ll be hangin’ out in the HRC booth all day Sunday – swing by & say hello!

  31. Anyone going to be in St. Louis for pride this year? I’d love to meet some of you lovelies =)

  33. Anyone going to any of the Charleston Pride events? I’d love to meet up with some other straddlers.

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