Gypsy Sport Celebrates Pride Month with a LGBTQ+ Focused Festival Called G-Spot

Lauren Rearick
Updated
"I felt the responsibility to create a safe space for other QPOC to express ourselves and empower each other"

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As celebrations surrounding Pride Month continue, Gypsy Sport, a boundary-pushing fashion brand announced the launch of its debut Pride event: G-Spot. This Saturday in New York City, the event will celebrate pride with day of LGBTQ+-focused panels, fashion, and fun. The brand aims for the day to be all about "focusing on diversity and body-positivity; while creating a safe space where individuality, love and self expression are highly encouraged."

Speaking with Teen Vogue, Rio Uribe, Gypsy Sport designer, explained his intentions in starting the event. "The LGBTQ community is so much more diverse and intersectional than what we see on TV and in movies," he said. "Pride is heavily dominated by cis-gender gays and lesbians, but theres a whole spectrum of queer people who don’t fall into those 2 categories. This is a chance to tell those stories, celebrate those bodies, and connect with other LGBTQ folks from all over the world."

For the day, Gypsy Sport intends to bring together a panel of leading LGBTQ+ activists, including Munroe Bergdorf, Emilia Ortiz, Miss Boogie and Aaron Philip. Along with the panel, G-Spot will also feature DJs, special queer performances, and a screening of three short queer films. The event kicks off at 2 p.m. at The Ledge in Bushwick, and will continues until 10 p.m.

Rio told Teen Vogue that the festival is particularly important to the brand given the frequent commercialization of Pride Month. "Pride has become such a big commercialized event with little positive impact on the LGBTQ community, and as a QPOC I felt the responsibility to create a safe space for other QPOC to express ourselves and empower each other without a capitalist agenda looming over us," Rio said. "World Pride 2019 is the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall riot, so I gathered 50 Gypsy Sport models and muses to celebrate LGBTQ diversity and body positivity together."

This isn't the first time that Gypsy Sport has used its platform to elevate the voices of LGBTQ+ individuals in fashion. The brand previously led the charge in casting more diverse models during New York Fashion Week in 2017, and their 2016 NYFW show defied gender expectations, with a showing of male models wearing skirts. Rio told Teen Vogue that breaking fashion norms is part of Gypsy Sport's mission, saying, "Every Gypsy Sport runway or photoshoot is an opportunity to showcase people of all different identities and body types. By casting fat, trans/GNC, or disabled models we are inspiring the next generation to see themselves as part of the fashion world and most importantly, to love themselves. G-Sport is bringing that same inclusivity to a stage where the models can sing, speak, and be visible, beyond just their appearances."

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Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue