Hotter Than July, an annual event that celebrates and uplifts Detroit’s LGBTQ community, is back for another year of parties, art festivals and a picnic at Palmer Park.
Considered Detroit’s longest-running Black pride event, nonprofit LGBT Detroit will kick off the four-day celebration with a candlelight vigil at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Palmer Park, honoring those who have died from HIV/AIDS.
The vigil will be followed by a 7 p.m. candidate forum ahead of Michigan’s Aug. 4 primary election at LGBT Detroit’s Marvin Lee Building, 20021 Greenfield. The event will be co-moderated by Detroit journalist Aaron Foley and LGBT Detroit Live co-host Joseph “Joe Black” Hunter. Candidates confirmed to participate are former state Sen. Adam Hollier and first-time candidate Eboni Taylor, who are both vying for a spot in Michigan’s 3rd Senate District, and Democratic state Rep. Donavan McKinney, who is running for Congress in Michigan’s 13th District against incumbent Shri Thanedar. Independent candidate Maurice Morton, a Detroit lawyer and businessman who will face the primary winner in November, will also attend the forum. Additional candidates are still being added as confirmations come in, said LGBT Detroit Executive Director A. Nzere Kwabena. He said he will have a final list of all of the participating candidates by Thursday morning.
Other highlights throughout the weekend include a bar crawl mixer Thursday night on the Avenue of Fashion, an art and film festival on Friday featuring short films from local LGBTQ filmmakers and a Saturday picnic at Palmer Park, with live entertainment, vendors, family activities and health resources.
A majority of the Hotter Than July events are free except for the kick-off party on Friday, the Palmer Park picnic after-party on Saturday, and the closing event, brunch at the Charlevoix Gallery.
BridgeDetroit talked to LGBT Detroit Executive Director A. Nzere Kwabena and Broadcast Studio Manager Chris Sutton about the significance of Hotter Than July and how to keep the pride event going for another 30 years.
BridgeDetroit: Why is it important to start each Hotter Than July with a candlelight vigil?
Kwabena: LGBT Detroit (originally known as Kick Publishing Company when it launched in 1994) was founded during the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis, and this is an 80s-rooted experience. We honor so many of our friends that we lost during the health crisis, and we’ve had various types of faith leaders, political figures, community members, youth – all kinds of people give direction and lead that wonderful, solemn experience. And we’ve recognized the various types of life lost through health disparities, violence, and just living amongst the urban crisis.
BridgeDetroit: What are some of the topics you want to address at the candidate forum?
Sutton: We know this is a major election year here locally, and a lot of the rights and freedoms of LGBT folks have been under attack now more than ever, and that’s a concern for us locally, but also a concern for us nationally. One thing that we’ve really been intentional about with Hotter Than July and LGBT Detroit is making sure that our community is protected, that their rights are protected, and we know a huge part of that is being civically engaged.
One of the big things that we want to bring to the candidate forum is that as these people are running for office, we want them to have a better understanding of our needs as a community when it comes to access to healthcare, access to housing and when it comes to the protection of our rights. A lot of the attacks on trans people have been horrendous. We want to make sure our local elected officials are aware, and we know that our community has questions in terms of making sure that they are equipped if they are chosen to represent us, that they’re actually fighting for our rights.
BridgeDetroit: What can we expect to see during the art and film festival on Friday?
Sutton: We have an excellent lineup of films that were selected by our art and film festival committee. Just to name a few, we have “To Move in My Mother’s Prayer,” which is directed by Diop Russell. It’s an amazing film following a nonbinary teenager who’s being pushed in this kind of sorority-type setting. We have “Handwoven,” directed by Dasha Levin, which is another powerful film about Indigenous people here in America and their family lineage. We have “Publicly Released,” written and directed by Connor Edwards, which follows a Black gay man’s journey being drafted into the NFL. We have “SYZYGY” directed by J. Michael Hayes, which is an Afrofuturism film, and then we also have the premiere of “Jamaal: Love Code,” which is a sci-fi series directed by Phillip Johnson. We were able to showcase his short film called “Jamaal” at our film festival last year, and now his short film has been picked up as a full series by (LGBTQ network) Here TV, which is amazing. He’s (Johnson) a local Detroit filmmaker, and what’s so awesome about the film is that it explores what dating within queer communities be in this sci-fi, AI future.
Then we also have “Heaven in Detroit,” but we already talked about that before. It’s a really incredible lineup. These are all short films, all directed and written by Black and brown queer filmmakers. It’s something that we’ve done with Hotter Than July for several years, and we’re planning on making this even a better and greater experience this year.
Outside the films, we’re also going to have an artist showcase that will be led by (Detroit author, community activist and filmmaker) Damon “Magic” Percy, where we’ll be recognizing some local poets, writers and visual artists. This year, the art and film festival is in celebration of Duane Belin. Duane Belin had a space called the Liberal Arts Gallery on Gratiot, and it was truly a community artist space. He provided space for a lot of incredible queer artists and organizations. I know LGBT Detroit hosted various events there. He (Belin) sadly passed in 2024, but we really want to make sure that his spirit stays alive in anything that we do creatively within the organization.
Kwabena: Duane was a friend, not only a personal friend, but a friend of the company. His fingerprint has significantly been meshed on our campus, but more importantly, we announced at his funeral that we were going to keep the memory of the Liberal Arts Gallery alive. To honor Duane this way during Hotter Than July just continues in our recognition of trailblazers here in Detroit.
BridgeDetroit: One of Hotter Than July’s signature events, the annual picnic at Palmer Park takes place on Saturday. Why is the picnic the heart of Hotter Than July?
Kwabena: Before 1995, LGBT people used to picnic in faraway places because of stigma, because of fear. We went to state parks, which were quite a distance, but Palmer Park has historically been our neighborhood park for decades, and so, I argued (to the organization) that the Hotter Than July picnic experience should be held at Palmer Park, not at a state park because we’re already there. There was resistance. We were afraid of being outed and being discovered, but I argued that we’ve already done the work. That first year was the most amazing picnic I’ve ever experienced, even to this day. When I got to the park, I saw families with their tents out, children playing, cars in the parking lots and on the street, people playing volleyball, playing cards. It looked like a family reunion, and so, the Palmer Park picnic has always been that. I’m very proud that we’ve been in Palmer Park all these years.
Our friends from across the country have told us how unique and special this is, and how they’ve tried to duplicate the experience. But I’ve told them that’s how Detroit gets down, good luck to you.
BridgeDetroit: Why is it important to keep Hotter Than July going for another 30 years?
Sutton:Growing up here in Detroit, I felt very isolated. I felt like I was the only one. When I went to my first Hotter Than July, which I think was in 2010 or 2011, it changed my life. It was the first time that I was in a space where I saw myself amongst so many people. I have heard that story from so many people over the years who said how transformative it was, how it was able to help them find their identity, how they were able to find their chosen family and community through that. And, like I said earlier, I think we need that now more than ever. That’s the driver for me to do this work around Hotter Than July because I know it’s something that’s so important in our community.
Kwabena: Hotter Than July is a benefit to people like us and this benefit should continue, period. As my fathers and mothers before me created space for me to be free, it is my obligation for my sons and daughters to be freer. My experience as a gay man will be very different from my sons and daughters and their children. We all tell a story about some of the similarities we have, being Black, being a Detroiter, being a Midwesterner; and through all of that, we weave it through this fabric that’s already been laid out, which is Hotter Than July.