Ginger Minj Says ‘Acceptance Starts With Ourselves’ While Picking Songs ‘The Sound Of Pride’ (Exclusive)

It’s Pride Month! Throughout June, HollywoodLife is celebrating with The Sound Of Pride, wherever celebs and stars of the LBGTQ+ assemblage prime songs for the eventual 2023 Pride Month playlist. It’s the cleanable soundtrack to readying your Pride party, researching how to support LGBTQ+ rights, oregon speechmaking astir the history of Pride Month. Ginger Minj, the drag performer who stars successful Golden Girls Live! and has appeared connected RuPaul’s Drag Race and RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Stars, now joins successful to connection immoderate confederate comfortableness to the playlist.

“I deliberation the astir life-changing clip for maine was Pride play close aft PULSE, and we didn’t cognize what was going to happen,” says Florida native Ginger Minj to HollywoodLife when discussing Pride Month portion picking songs for The Sound of Pride. Based successful Orlando, Ginger felt the interaction of the June 2016 wide shooting astatine the PULSE nightclub, leaving 49 patrons dormant and 53 much wounded. For Ginger, the onslaught connected the queer nightclub sent ripples passim the LGBTQ+ community. Ginger enactment connected a brave look to fulfill her bookings. Ginger said that “every azygous Pride I was invited to [that year] broke attendance records, and the overwhelming consciousness of emotion and acceptance was healing.”

With the continual legislative attacks connected the community, Ginger says that Pride 2020 “feels a batch much important than immoderate Pride successful caller history.” With resistance bans and attacks connected gender-affirming healthcare moving rampant – particularly successful Ginger’s autochthonal Florida – the resistance superstar tells HL that a large showing of queer “visibility and joyousness and strength” needs to beryllium seen by the world.

It besides needs to beryllium heard. That’s wherever The Sound of Pride comes in, arsenic Ginger shares her caller azygous – “I Am What I Am,” on with 2 different fierce queens. She besides shares however to drawback her this summertime earlier she drops her caller memoir/cookbook/tell-all, Southern Fried Sass.

Ginger Minj, “I Am What I Am”

Kacey Musgraves, “Follow Your Arrow”

Heather Small, “Proud”

“Or, Honestly, thing from the Queer As Folk soundtrack!”

HL: How does this year’s Pride solemnisation consciousness erstwhile compared to past year’s?

Ginger: “This twelvemonth feels a batch much important than immoderate Pride successful caller history. Visibility and joyousness and spot successful our assemblage needs to beryllium seen and shared with the world.”

Pride is simply a clip to observe unsung heroes. Is determination anyone you’d similar to spot get immoderate much of the spotlight this year? 

“We mislaid Drag Icon Heklina this year, and arsenic fashionable arsenic she was, I don’t deliberation she ever got the recognition she deserved for breaking down doors erstwhile different radical were excessively acrophobic to tip-toe done them. She was abrasive, she was funny, she was unapologetic, and she was very, precise important.”

Do you person a representation of Pride Months’ past?

“I was precise fortunate to beryllium raised by a clump of queens who went done the Stonewall riots, the AIDS epidemic, Divine becoming the archetypal mainstream resistance superstar, RuPaul taking those reigns and reinventing resistance much times than Madonna’s reinvented her career, truthful I’ve ne'er taken a azygous infinitesimal of immoderate Pride solemnisation for granted!”

“I deliberation the astir life-changing clip for maine was Pride play close aft PULSE, and we didn’t cognize what was going to happen. Would anyone amusement up? Would we beryllium safe? Would anyone adjacent consciousness similar celebrating? Every azygous Pride I was invited to broke attendance records, and the overwhelming consciousness of emotion and acceptance was healing.”

What bash you person planned for June (and the remainder of 2023?)

“So much! Right now, I’m successful Atlanta playing Blanche successful “The Golden Gals Live!” past it’s disconnected to Provincetown each summertime and headlining tours successful Australia, Europe, and Mexico earlier releasing my memoir/tell-all/cookbook, Southern Fried Sass, connected November 7th! Everything from the meatloaf to the gossip is juicy; preorder a transcript now!”

Do you person a Pride 2023 connection to share? 

“Acceptance starts with ourselves. Look successful the mirror, emotion what you person to offer, and observe YOU! When you enactment that vigor retired into the world, you truly bash get it back!”

Keep reading HollywoodLife throughout June for more entries in The Sound of Pride and additional Pride Month coverage. And retrieve — hole your bosom oregon die! 

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