Kevin Aviance at Washington Hts LGBT Pride Picnic

As we do pretty much every single year since we began living in New York, on Sunday we headed over to Washington Heights for the 16th Annual Dominican/Latino LGBT Pride Picnic and Health Fair put together by the Gay and Lesbian Dominican Empowerment Organization (GALDE) under the majestic George Washington Bridge.

The hot and sunny weather had everyone turning out for the event which seemed to have the largest attendance in memory. There was some trouble with the stereo system but the performances were pretty cool. The highlight was to see Kevin Aviance come out and perform once again (see first picture above) following the assault he suffered over the summer. I'm not sure that most of the Latino families out with their kids knew exactly who he was but for many it was truly moving to see him sing again, particularly when he bid the crowd good-bye with an accapella rendition of "Din Da Da."

Additional photos of the picnic can be seen here.

UPDATE: Turns out Kevin Aviance has joined the blog-o-spehere. Just head over to Kevin Aviance World.

Dancing in the Park

So today Gay City News published a couple of the photos I took at the Gay and Lesbian Dominican Empowerment Organization (GALDE)'s annual picnic back on July 31st, 2005. The weather was as glorious as it had been in previous years (sunny, mid-80's) and the turn-out seemed, at least to me, higher as well. Unfortunately I was only able to get there as things were winding down and missed most all the (usually) outstanding performances.

For all the June gay pride hoopla in New York this continues to be my favorite annual event. The backdrop of the George Washington Bridge is certainly magnificent but it's the reggaeton, bachata and salsa blasting from the speakers that truly gives it that special kick. It helps that, even after 15th years, most people in New York don't know about it. The result? An event that draws from 500 to 1,000 people that still manages to feel like a family picnic. My hats off to GALDE and all their volunteers for another great weekend.