• Although Pride is celebrated worldwide in June, Worcester holds its main celebration in September. The Queer AF fashion show has become one of its centerpieces.
• The Queer AD model call will take place from 5 to 8 p.m. June 8 at the Worcester Art Museum.
• At the Queer AF kick-off event, anyone interested in modeling will have their measurements taken and learn the basics of walking the runway.

In the past two years, the model call for the Queer AF Art & Fashion Show has become a harbinger of Worcester summer, kicking off the season as well as the official preparations for the night of fashion and LGBT culture that takes over downtown every September.

There’s always one June Sunday night where people from all across Worcester County and all walks of life converge to sign up for the fashion show, meet other LGBT neighbors, learn to pose, and celebrate culture and warm weather.

‘We really encourage everybody to come’

This year’s Queer AF kickoff event takes place June 8 in preparation for the Sept. 5 fashion show, and Love Your Labels founder Joshua Croke, who has been organizing Queer AF since 2018, said no matter who you are or what you look like, there will be room on the runway for you.

“We really encourage everybody to come, especially folks who might have that little voice in their head that says, ‘No, that’s not something you can do,’” Croke said. “Folks say Queer AF helped them come out to their families, helped them on their gender-discovery journey, prompted them to try drag for the first time and they’ve gone on to be in the drag scene as a performer.”

The model call will take place from 5 to 8 p.m. June 8 at the Worcester Art Museum. Anyone interested in modeling will have their measurements taken and learn the basics of walking the runway, and music and a cash bar will be on hand all evening.

‘That whole night was unlike anything I had ever done before’

Love Your Labels is a Worcester LGBT nonprofit that runs programs for queer youth, and one such program is the Threads fashion design class, where teenagers can learn to design and sew clothing. Each year, some of those teenagers showcase their work in Queer AF, and the night’s proceeds always go toward future Threads groups and other Love Your Labels projects.

This year’s planning board includes two models from previous years, Tyler Brice and Julie Walker, and both said their experience on the runway deeply moved them.

“That whole day and that whole night was unlike anything I had ever done before, which is ironic because I grew up dancing and being in musicals,” Walker said.

“When you think of a gala, you think of putting on a performance or the clothes being at the forefront, but actually experiencing it, it’s not like that at all,” Brice said. “It’s about your inner beauty and supporting each other, letting that radiate and being yourself. All your vulnerabilities and insecurities transform and let you project outward something magical.”

Brice first walked the Queer AF runway in 2023, soon after moving to Worcester and getting involved with a local gay professionals’ networking group.

“I was new to Worcester at the time so I was just trying to get out and experience the community, meet new people, and make connections,” Brice said. “I was a little nervous at first, but I needed to get out of my shell anyway, and I thought that could be something fun to do.”

After modeling for two years, Walker volunteered backstage at last year’s fashion show, and she said her favorite part of the experience was watching a wide variety of first-time models from throughout Central Massachusetts “have that opportunity to shine, have their moment in the spotlight, and have a huge room full of people cheering them on.”

Walker said the Queer AF runway each year also features models who use mobility aids, in keeping with the cast’s status as a cross section of Worcester’s real-life queer community.

“We had one person who was using crutches after an unanticipated injury and was able to participate in the show. Having her come off and seeing how thrilled she was that she did it, crutches and all, stands out,” Walker said.

Pride in Central Mass.

The June 8 model call is just one of many Worcester-area events celebrating LGBTQ culture and history in the coming weeks.

June has marked Pride month around the world since the 1970s, and while Worcester holds its annual Pride festival in September so that area residents can easily attend both that event and the many nearby June parades, Central Massachusetts is still observing the original Pride month in style.

Worcester lesbian bar Femme Bar hosts several weekly events throughout June, as during the rest of the year, and the party starts with a Pride block party June 7, starting inside at 5 p.m., expanding outdoors at 7 p.m., and lasting long into the night. Pride World Drag Brunch on June 15 is another highlight, featuring Worcester queen and former “RuPaul’s Drag Race” competitor Joslyn Fox.

Spencer will host the fifth annual Small Town Pride in O’Gara Park on the afternoon of June 28, featuring live music and drag performance, speakers, art vendors and community organizations.

Later that night, the MB Lounge, Worcester’s oldest continuously operating gay bar, throws its annual Stonewall Pride Block Party, featuring a 9 p.m. drag show hosted by Worcester queens DaishaDore Famouz and Robyn Millyonz, to celebrate the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall Inn riot that eventually evolved into the modern Pride celebration.

‘It started as a protest’

On June 28, 1969, New York police raided the Stonewall Inn gay bar, sparking riots and demonstrations that inspired a larger nationwide movement for LGBT rights. In some cities, LGBT groups began to hold Pride parades in June to mark the anniversary of Stonewall, and more than 50 years later, Croke said, those roots remain important.

“It started as a protest, and that’s how we should continue to hold it, but in protest, we need to find joy and community,” Croke said.

Croke said as the federal government removes information about LGBT health and history from its websites and state legislatures across the country attempt to pass anti-transgender laws, LGBT Americans need something to smile about while they fight back, and Pride parades and fashion shows can provide just that.

“The national dialogue is emboldening people, even within Massachusetts, to try and push anti-trans legislation, push against gender-affirming care,” Croke said. “With so much pain and stress over things that are going on nationally, it can be easy to just sink into that, but I want folks to allow themselves to experience joy and love and community and togetherness this Pride.”

Brice, who modeled in 2023 and 2024, said the fashion show means as much to those watching as it does to those participating.

“I think if we are able to show other people that we can express ourselves authentically without shame or guilt or any of that, and be vulnerable and beautiful in our own right, hopefully that will give people the feeling of safety that they can do that too and will be protected,” Brice said.

Walker, meanwhile, said each year Queer AF draws larger crowds and more volunteer models, an encouraging trend.

“I’ve been an out member of the community for 20 years, and the fact that I’m continuing to meet new people is so uplifting, especially in these times,” Walker said. “It gives me hope to see more people come out of the woodwork and say, ‘We’re here.’”

Queer AF Kickoff

When: 5 to 8 p.m. June 8

Where: Worcester Art Museum, 55 Salisbury St., Worcester

How much: Free. loveyourlabels.org.