By Fernando Camino–
Iconic Pride is the annual series of Pride programming held at New York City’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine, America’s largest cathedral. This year’s events kicked off with Pride Eve on May 31, 2025, and the evening was by any measure beyond bongga (Filipino for fantabulous)!
Hosted at this all-inclusive house of prayer on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, the event featured a cocktail hour, raffle, craft making, costume performance, and culminated in the turning on of the magnificent Pride lights, which will continue to illuminate the cathedral for the entirety of Pride Month.
The brilliant pageant planner and fashion influencer, Greedy Peasant (@greedy.peasant on Instagram), and his “fearless Color Team Leaders” orchestrated a procession of participants in monochromatic costumes collectively representing all the colors of the Pride rainbow. Embellished with tassels, buttons, and festive ornamentations, these ingenious ensembles invoked the Middle Ages and church ceremony, but with a big gay twist. The result was an astonishing explosion of pageantry and color. It was a gleeful gothic show of gay flamboyance, extravagance, and beauty.
TRANScend Ambassadors & Community Chorale, New York’s first trans- and gender-expansive classical vocal ensemble, moved us all with its enchanting music adding so poignantly to the sense of community. But nothing topped the final act: the lighting of St. John the Divine’s immense vaulted ceiling. Slowly, the columns and arches high above us lit up in a rainbow colors. It was breathtaking! In that magical moment, the cathedral embodied the very spirit of Pride.
As a young Filipino boy raised Catholic in Manila, I never would have imagined myself in a cathedral in NYC celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community. But here I was witnessing queerness merge with medieval history and spirituality in a festival of openness and inclusivity unlike any other. Thanks to Iconic Pride at the Cathedral 2025 at St. John the Divine, our queer spirits soared with radiance, love, and pride!
Fernando Camino, who is based in New York City, created the YouTube channel SuperFriends NYC and livestreams from Times Square on Saturday nights and on additional days for selected events.
https://tinyurl.com/4jxvumwd
SuperFriends NYC
Published on June 26, 2025
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