7 Ways to Pride This Week

The Humans

A prescient dramedy with a touch of horror, Stephen Karam's The Humans, now in Los Angeles, and starring the original Broadway cast, investigates fear and those aspects of life that keep people up at night like finances, job security, illness, and loss via death and divorce. The 2016 Tony winner for best play tells the story of The Blakes, a working-class family from Scranton, Penn. headed by Reed Birney's Erik and Jayne Houdyshell's Deirdre, who brave a snowstorm for Thanksgiving dinner at the Chinatown apartment their youngest daughter Brigid (The Good Fight's Sarah Steele) shares with her grad-student boyfriend Richard (Nick Mills). Rounding out the ensemble is Cassie Becks as the eldest Blake daughter Aimee, a Philadelphia lawyer coping with a nasty bout of ulcerative colitis in the wake of being recently dumped by her girlfriend, and Lauren Klein as Erik's mother "Momo," whose dementia is nearing its end stages.

Over the course of the meal, barbs are tossed and family secrets and shame are laid bare. The great Joe Mantello directs.

The Humans runs through July 29 at Center Theater Group's The Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles. Get tickets here.

Pride Coast to Coast

Many cities are celebrating LGBT Pride this weekend -- the closest one to the anniversary of the Stonewall riots -- including the city where they happened. New York City's Pride March steps off at noon Sunday at Seventh Avenue and 16th Street, and the route takes it through Greenwich Village and up Fifth Avenue. There are numerous other Pride events in NYC throughout the weekend, including a festival hosted by Ross Mathews, concerts by Lizzo, Big Freedia, and more (sorry, Kylie Minogue's show is sold out), and the It Gets Better Project's Blackbox Playlist Pride Edition, with 16 actors performing eight short plays based on a playlist selected by Dan Savage. The latter takes place at 6 p.m. Sunday; find info and tickets for it here, and get the whole Pride event schedule here.

San Francisco's Pride parade begins Sunday at 10:30 a.m., and the City by the Bay also has a weekend full of festivities, including performances by Kehlani, Ada Vox, and many others. Even beer drinkers can find a haven at Jersey Restaurant, which is hosting an SF Pride Tap Takeover.

Pride Toronto's events kick off with a big party tonight, featuring a concert by Brandy, and there's a Dyke March Saturday and the big parade beginning at 2 p.m Sunday, plus dances, performances, and other fun stuff throughout the weekend. Nashville's Pride celebration includes an Equality Walk through the Music City's downtown area starting at 10 a.m. Saturday, a weekend-long festival with a variety of vendors and family-friendly activities, and, of course, lots of music, with shows by Chely Wright, Steve Grand, Wilson Phillips, and numerous other artists.

Queer City by Peter Ackroyd

The acclaimed and amazingly prolific author Peter Ackroyd sets his sights on the LGBT history of London in Queer City: Gay London From the Romans to the Present Day. He chronicles what his publisher, Abrams, calls "an endless loop of alternating permissiveness and censure," from the Roman era's openness about bathhouses and brothels to the crackdown brought by the arrival of Christianity, from the centuries of antisodomy laws that carried the death penalty to the gay liberation movement of the late 20th century. Ackroyd, who's written poetry and novels in addition to a multivolume history of England and biographies of Charles Dickens, Alfred Hitchcock, and William Blake, brings thoroughness, an eye for detail, and a sense of humor to Queer City, according to critics. The Independent calls it
"a nimble, uproarious pocket history of sex in his beloved metropolis." while The Guardian describes it as "droll, provocative and crammed to busting with startling facts." Find ordering information here or visit your favorite local bookseller.

"I Really Do Care, Don't U?" Tees, Jackets, and Hoodies to Support Immigrant Services

As if there were any question if the Trump administration and his cronies behind separating children from their parents at the border cared about the broader implications for those human beings, Melania Trump donned a $37 Zara jacket inscribed with the words "I Really Don't Care, Do U?" to visit a shelter to meet with some of those children terrorized by being forcibly removed from their families. The jacket instantly became a meme and in less than 24 hours shirts and jackets with "I Really Do Care, Don't U?" became available to send a message while also giving to charity. The profits of a tee available on Etsy will directly to support immigrant and refugee services through RAICES (the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services).

The Queer-owned Wildfang, known for its excellent tomboy style, is offering bomber jackets, hoodies, and tees with the "I Really Do Care..." inscription on them. Proceeds will go to RAICES.

"Hey Melania. WE REALLY DO CARE! That's why we made this jacket. To say we stand with immigrants. To say WE CARE," reads a statement on Wildfang.

Prejudice and Pride

This Sunday marks the 45th anniversary of the fire at the UpStairs Lounge, a New Orleans gay bar where an arsonist killed 32 people and injured many others. Until Pulse, the attack was the deadliest to target the LGBT community in U.S. history. To commemorate this mass killing, ABC News Features released a 30-minute documentary, Prejudice and Pride, that interviews survivors, first responders, journalists, activists, and family members of the dead. Watch a trailer below, and the full film here.

The Finale of RuPaul's Drag Race

At long last, the grand finale for season 10 of RuPaul's Drag Race is upon us. In the episode, RuPaul will crown a contestant -- Aquaria, Asia O'Hara, Kameron Michaels, or Eureka O'Hara -- as America's Next Drag Superstar, after a final round of interviews and plenty of surprises. Watch it Thursday at 8 p.m. Eastern on VH1.

Everything Is Love

Beyonce and Jay-Z's new collaborative album came out of nowhere -- a running them now for Bey -- but it's an unexpected summer delight. Relatively short, Everything Is Love breezes by with nine very catchy tunes, with standouts like "Summer," "Nice," and "Lovehappy." The theme is joy, following the couple reconciling after Jay's very infamous infidelity. There is room for political themes, especially on "Black Effect," with its references to false arrests and Trayvon Martin. Another theme is black wealth and power, with numerous references to the spouses' spending prowess. But Everything Is Love's summer release seems purposeful -- it's fun, frothy, and perfect for a long ride with the top down.