'Drag Race' 's Sasha Velour Is Bringing Queer History to Pride Weekend: 'It Feels Particularly Urgent'

Photo: Splash News Online

“I did not know how really empowering it is to be up on this moving vehicle, seeing queer people and allies everywhere you look,” Velour, 32, tells PEOPLE. “I feel like everyone needs to be up in drag, on top of a float, letting the wind blow through a cape, to really understand the magic of the pride parade.”

On Sunday, Velour returns to the parade on the Lyft float, performing her avant-garde collaborative showNightgownsalongside other drag queens. It’s “the perfect way to celebrate” after three nights of fullNightgownsshows at the Abrons Arts Center, she says.

With the50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, which set off the contemporary fight for LGBTQ rights, it’s also an opportunity.

“It feels particularly urgent to call out the role of gender nonconforming and trans people in fighting for pride and the continued need for that,” says Velour, who identifies as genderqueer. “Pride has gotten to a scale where sometimes the action that’s needed gets lost.”

It shocked Velour that Lyft, which will turn its in-app car icons to pride colors for the weekend,endorsed the political messageof the show and float.

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“You can actually speak to anything about your experiences or your fantasies or your dreams or your fears on stage,” Velour says ofNightgowns. “Being able to have the space is really the ultimate reflection on pride.”

source: people.com