LGBT celebration: A weekend of music and joy

When word came of the Supreme Court's marriage-equality ruling June 26, a collective shout of "Finally!" went out. And it happened just a week before Philadelphia's National LGBT 50th Anniversary Celebration. Malcolm Lazin, chairman, said he was pleased to have Wanda Sykes, "an outspoken and committed LGBT advocate," as master of ceremonies.

There will be joy - and dance music - at free musical events over Independence Day weekend.

There will be parties and nightly parades throughout the Gayborhood, plus the Thursday night opening jam at the National Museum of American Jewish History; a Hot Mess American Summer Dance Party on Friday night at Medusa Lounge, with DJ JavaScript; and an LGBT history exhibit at the National Constitution Center.

The musical highlight is Friday, with a free party at River Stage at Penn's Landing, with hosts Aubrey O'Day and Shannon Bex (originally from Danity Kane, now Dumb Blonde); Jonathan Allen, the booming voice from America's Got Talent; Philly dance-soul diva GoGo Morrow; and enough drag queens to shock even RuPaul, headliners such as Cleo Phatra, Trish Talapia, and, yes, my antiaging favorite, Aloe Vera.

On Saturday, from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., the newly rainbow-painted streets of the Gayborhood will be blocked off from Chestnut Street to Pine between 11th and Broad for a free, open-air dance party, with DJ Chris Urban.

Thom Cardwell, the longtime director of the Philadelphia Gay Film Festival whose qFLIX Philadelphia gay film festival begins Tuesday, says that "this LGBT 50th anniversary week is a dynamic celebration of who we are. . . . We are lucky. Other movements such as ours took a long time or are still taking a long time to be respected, embraced, loved, for who they are and what they can do for themselves and their country. There's so much to be proud of to be a gay American right now it brings me to tears."

Allen, 22, is from Lawrenceburg, Tenn. He came out to the world in 2013, during the audition process for Season 8 of NBC's America's Got Talent. But in his midteens, he had come out to his churchgoing parents - who told him he had to leave the house when he turned 18. Which he did.

"It was rough being raised in that environment, but I got out and I am happier for it," says Allen. "That's all that matters."

Classical music and opera came to his rescue. "I heard it and connected," Allen says. "It became my escape then and has been with me since." But the country sounds of Tennessee played a role, too. That music figures in Allen's upcoming EP, cowritten and produced by his partner, Demetrius Antoine. Whereas fans of America's Got Talent know and love his renditions of opera, Allen's new record is a looser, more organic, and danceable brand of raw R&B tinged with country. "I'm going to leave it as a surprise to the listeners of Philadelphia what it's going to sound like," says Allen, but he does name influences such as Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, and John Legend.

Morrow is a West Philly native. Her new single, "Like a Trap Boy," celebrates that neighborhood. She's always had a tight bond with Philly's gay population. She was a background singer-dancer for gay-rights advocate Lady Gaga on the Monster Ball Tour ("front row, backstage learning experience as to what do to and not to do," she says), and she has performed during New York Gay Pride parades. "I don't have a story or a struggle as they do, but I think of myself as an ally of the LGBT community," she says. "Gay people must have every right we do."

Morrow started singing before she could talk and, starting at age 10, spent time at Prince Music Theater's Rainbow Company. She looks forward to Friday's show, but also to the ceremony in front of Independence Hall. That will commemorate a demonstration 50 years ago, when, on July 4, 1965, 40 activists picketed in front of the Hall. It seems tiny, but at the time it was one of the largest gay-equality demonstrations in history.

Morrow is thrilled to be singing "Over the Rainbow" with Allen for the occasion: "I can't wait."