Daniel Dromm, Former NYC Council Finance Chair and Queens Pride Founder
Community Advisory Council Chair
“The Queens Pride Parade and Festival is integral to all other LGBTQ+ organizing in the borough. It must continue. As Queens Pride’s founder, I am proud to work with the LGBT Network and David Kilmnick to bring back Pride bigger and better than ever before. The last two years without Queens Pride have been difficult but the future looks bright. The New Queens Pride will bring us all together to celebrate our gains and will let everyone know that LGBTQIA people are their family, friends and neighbors. Queens Pride is a true community event enjoyed by all! I look forward to seeing everyone on June 5, 2022 on 37th Avenue in Jackson Heights.”
Donovan Richards Jr., Queens Borough President
“As the borough of Queens makes its comeback from a tumultuous two years, I’m thrilled Queens Pride is making a comeback of its own. Thanks to the LGBT Network, David Kilmnick and my good friend, former Council Member Danny Dromm, we will now have another opportunity to celebrate pride along the streets of Jackson Heights – just in time for Queens Pride’s 30th anniversary. Many thanks to all for Queens Pride’s big return.”
Catalina Cruz, New York State Assembly Member
“I am thrilled to hear The New Queens Pride is bringing back our beloved annual celebration. I look forward to working with the LGBT Network, the advisory council and our community to push forward this historic community celebration”.
Shekar Krishnan, New York City Council Member
“I am excited that the Queens LGBTQIA Pride Parade and Festival will return to the streets of Jackson Heights this June. It’s absence over the last two years has left a void that residents and visitors alike have deeply felt. This is one of our neighborhood’s largest parades and brings joy to all who attend. I want to congratulate the LGBT Network, David Kilmnick and Queens Pride founder, Danny Dromm, for making this happen.”
Lynn Schulman, New York City Council Member
“Queens Pride is vital to the LGBTQIA movement because it offers so many young people, especially young people of color, the opportunity to see that they are not alone. I am so pleased that the LGBT Network has stepped up to the plate to continue Queens Pride’s 30-year legacy of bringing diverse groups of people together for this one special day. Congratulations to David Kilmnick and Danny Dromm.”
Michael Mallon, President of the Lesbian and Gay Democratic Club of Queens
“Thank you, LGBT Network for bringing Pride back to Queens. It is great to see that the Network is planning the 30th Anniversary of the Queens LGBTQ+ Pride Parade and Festival. After a two-year absence, our borough’s LGBTQ+ community members will have an opportunity to come together to walk, ride, and dance down 37th Avenue once again this June. Congratulations to parade founder Danny Dromm and LGBT Network CEO David Kilmnick on organizing this historic event. You are helping to usher in a new era of pride here in the World’s Borough.”
Matthew Silverstein, Democratic State Committeeman, 26th AD and Community Activist
“I am so excited to hear that Queens Pride is returning this year and returning thanks to the LGBT Network. Queens Pride has been such an integral part of the LGBTQIA movement over the past 30 years. It was important for young Gay kids like me growing up to see an organization out there advocating for our rights. I want to thank Queens Pride Founder Danny Dromm for all of his work and I would like to thank LGBT Network CEO David Kilmnick for organizing this years event and for asking me to serve on this committee. It is even more important this year for me to show my new daughter Abigail that Pride is strong in Queens County”
Melissa Sklarz, District Leader, 30th AD, Part B
“I moved back to Queens 16 years ago. I did so because it is friendly, affordable, and diverse. Queens Pride represents all of those attributes and more. It has always been an outpouring of love and community, where all are welcome, and the joy of thousands of participants is always a sight. I look forward to supporting the effort for Queens Pride 2022 and hope that all LGBTQ Queens residents and their friends and families will join with us.”
Eddie Valentin & Casimiro Villa, Owners of Friends Tavern & Viva La Heights Bar
“Friend’s Tavern, has been a major supporter and sponsor of the Queens Pride Parade & Festival since it began in 1993. We are super excited to start working with the LGBT Network, to make sure that the most exciting and inclusive Pride event in NYC, continues growing and representing all members of our community!”
Mohamed Q. Amin, Founder and Executive Director of Caribbean Equality Project (CEP)
“I am honored to be a part of this new era of Queens Pride’s history- one that centers on racial justice, equity, and trans inclusivity. Since the CEP formation in 2015, Danny Dromm has been an avid supporter of the Queens-based organization’s advocacy to uplift and protect Caribbean LGBTQ+ immigrant voices in NYC. As we continue to navigate the evolving challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic, we must keep creating spaces to celebrate our victories, tell our stories of embodied resilience, and honor those we’ve lost to pandemics after pandemics. Being a member of the LGBT Network’s Queens Pride’s Community Advisory Committee allows me to continue fighting for greater inclusion and representation of the cultural diversity of Queer and Trans people in Queens. It’s also an opportunity to collectively work with leaders to envision a Queens where our most vulnerable community members are protected, loved, and affirmed.”
Rosemary Lopez, Executive Director of AIDS Center of Queens County (ACQC)
“ACQC has had a long-standing relationship with Queens Pride since its inception more than 30 years ago. The agency’s involvement has included sponsorship opportunities under the leadership of Councilman Daniel Dromm, and other community leaders. As ACQC’s chief leader, I have made it a priority to give significant support of Queens Pride activities. I along with the ACQC staff are committed to continue providing the support necessary to The LGBT Network and The New Queens Pride to maintain and grow the quality of excellence of this annual event that has meant so much to the Queens community at large”
Richard Lieberman, Director of the LaGuardia and Wagner Archives at CUNY/LGCC
“I am thrilled that the Queens LGBTQ Pride Parade and Festival will take place this June. BRAVO! to the efforts of parade founder Danny Dromm and the LGBT Network. Queens wasn’t the same without the parade the last two years. Attended by tens of thousands of borough residents, the parade has become a major event, reflective of the diversity of Queens. The South Asian Lesbian and Gay Association, the Columbian Gay and Lesbian Association, Las Buenas Amigas, and other groups marched, illustrating the multiracial, multiethnic nature of our LGBTQ community. A standing ovation for the LGBT Network for involving community stakeholders in the decision-making process and to Danny for reviving and reimagining the parade and festival. Queens is back!”
Bill Meehan, former Queens Pride Board member and community activist
“Queens Pride will be back in force in June. I am proud to have been asked to serve on the advisory committee and am committed to seeing that the traditions that make Queens Pride so special continue into the future. Since its inception 30 years ago, Queens Pride has provided hope to the thousands of people who attend its events. I am looking forward to seeing everyone together again on June 5, 2022 on 37th Avenue.”
Andrew Ronan, activist and former Queens Pride Co-Chair
“Congratulations and thanks to the LGBT Network for sponsoring the New Queens Pride Parade and Festival. I am excited to serve on the Community Advisory Council and look forward to ensuring that Queens Pride’s history of being a community-based parade continues for years to come.”
