2025 NYC Pride Guide - Flipbook - Page 16
TRANS RIGHTS ACTIVISM GRAND MARSHAL
An original multi-hyphenate, Lina Bradford’s work has cemented her internationally as an actress, rad
personality, producer and star of her interview series, “In the Dollhouse with Lina.” A longtime activist, she
a board member and global ambassador for the Hetrick-Martin Institute and chair member for GMHC.
creative, native New Yorker who got her start as a professionally trained dancer, Lina has been describe
as the “Princess of Light.” She’s earned this title by bringing people together with music and her signatu
zest for life as she connects with audiences around the globe. Shapeshifting through decades as an icon
nightlife personality, Lina thrives on creating community. Her consecutive, 10-year DJ residency on the Fi
Island Pines made her a staple in the gay enclave. Best known for her rotation of popular weekly partie
she’s the go-to for playing discographies from the greats in dance, deep house, and disco. The jewel of Ne
York City’s nightlife crown, Lina embodies advocacy for Black trans women, working with organizations lik
SAGE and GLAAD and even providing music for the 2022 White House Correspondents Dinner.
WE ASKED LINA TO REFLECT ON
THE 2025 NYC PRIDE THEME,
RISE UP: PRIDE IN PROTEST.
This interview has been edited and condensed for
clarity. For more from Lina, visit
@thelinabradford
“Pride and Protest over the years and now, for
me, hands down, means showing up. Pride and
Protest is waking up every morning in a beautiful
‘Skittles taste the rainbow’ collective. Whether
you know it or not, you are showing Pride and
you are Protesting every day when you walk out
of your home. Every day is a beautiful moment
to educate yourself and have a different person
in your life who you didn’t necessarily get raised
[around] or have in your backyard. If you came
from a small town and you didn’t have different ethnicities, you move to a big city, like New
York, it calls to people’s souls and artistry, and
all of these differences create an extraordinary
community. When we defiantly celebrate Pride,
become advocates, rise in solidarity, this creates
community.”
/15//
Collective action, advocacy, and protest for equal
rights across LGBTQ+ generations and with our
allies, is critical because “ … as much as we want
to think we’re so different, we’re all really the
same. We just want to be loved and we want
to be seen and understand where someone’s
coming from. You might have the same kind of
background of how things happen to you and
when you actually talk about it can help you [and
someone else].”
“As the New Year came in, I have seen how the
abundance of light has come my way in a different way … there’s no stopping any of this. This
is all shining so bright for us all. But baby, if you
want to get down to the grassroots of it, I mean,
a label is something I wear, not something I like
to have directed toward me. Being a mixed race
woman of trans experience in this country, there
should be things that should be against me,
but they’re not. I am the destiny of everything
that goes forward in my life, it’s only ever been
positive, and it’s only ever going to be positive.
No one will ever take that from me, especially,
scared, older, outdated dinosaurs.”
NYCPRIDE.org
