Keweenaw Queers photo Katrina and Kyle of Keweenaw Queers post at a fundraiser for the organization.

HANCOCK — The Keweenaw Queers held a screening of the 1990 documentary film “Paris Is Burning” Friday at The Orpheum Theater in Hancock. The screening is a part of several fundraisers held by the LGBTQ+ group for the upcoming Keweenaw Pridefest in June.

A $5-20 sliding scale donation was taken at the door. All proceeds will be invested into the upcoming Pridefest.

Advertised by KQ as “the iconic documentary that brought ballroom to the mainstream,” “Paris Is Burning,” directed by Jennie Livingston, is often praised for shedding light into the fringes of “queer ballroom culture” in 1980s New York City.

The documentary depicts the exploits of Black and Latin ball culture and its performers. According to an article by the National Museum of African American History and Culture, “between the 1960’s and 80’s New York drag competitions known as ‘balls’ transformed from elaborate pageantry to ‘vogue’ battles.” “Vogueing” is a popular type of dance popular in ball culture participants would do during the events.

“Black and Latino voguers would compete for trophies and the reputation of their ‘Houses’ – groups that were part competitive affiliation, part surrogate family,” the article states.

“Paris Is Burning” is an important and celebrated film in queer history, not only because it brought underground queer subcultures to the mainstream, but because it portrays the icons of the movement in a very realistic light.

Some performers in the documentary were sex workers, some which contracted HIV/AIDS. The film did not stray away from those heavy topics, but it did not glamorize them either. Instead, “Paris Is Burning” shows what life was like for marginalized members of society.

This screening and the film’s themes relate back to KQ. The finance officer of the group, Katrina Linde-Moriarty, said they wanted to bring the film to the Keweenaw to celebrate often overlooked aspects of queer culture.

“We wanted to bring this film to a wider audience, not only to celebrate the long history of queer, and culture, and music, and performance and identity — but also to raise funds for our own community gathering,” they said.

According to Linde-Moriarty, Keweenaw Pridefest is slated to return to the Calumet Colosseum during the first weekend of June.

“One thing I can tease for this year is that we’re hoping to bring some more food vendors on,” they said. “We’re having a huge community art project where everyone will get a coloring page — we’re hoping that they are inspired by our theme.”

The theme for this years Pridefest is “Rainbow Connections.”

Keweenaw Queers is hosting more events to raise funds for its big celebration this summer. These events include a yoga session at Fresh Coast Yoga and a farm day at BigGoat Farm later this spring.

For more information on upcoming events for Keweenaw Queers, visit their Facebook page or their website at keweenawpridefest.org.