Big-Time Pride: Celebrating Inclusivity and a First for Trans Storytellers

This June, Audible celebrated Pride with new releases, events, discussions, and personal recommendations from our LGBTQIA+ creators and employees. We also joined forces with NYC Pride and Tribeca Festival, where we sponsored events and promoted content from queer storytellers.

Several events celebrated the release of our new Audible Original, the queer action/comedy podcast Hot White Heist: an immersive preview at Tribeca Festival featuring Sasha Velour's drag revue, NightGowns; an Audible Live conversation with cast members Bowen Yang, Shannon Woodward and Bianca Del Rio, hosted by comedian Michelle Collins; and a discussion at 92Y with producers Alan Cumming and Adam Goldman as part of NYC’s Pride programming.

In our fourth year as a sponsor of NYC Pride, we supported its virtual Human Rights conference and Artist Lounge as well as its Master Class with RuPaul’s Drag Race stars Bob the Drag Queen and Peppermint.

For the release of our new Audible Original Loops, starring Vivica Fox, Teresa Ruiz, and Yul Vazquez, we ran a virtual panel featuring the thrillers’ authors and #WeAllGrowLatina. And our Unidos and Pride employee impact groups co-sponsored a discussion with Aiden Thomas and Avi Roque, author and narrator of The Cemetery Boys, which has the distinction of being the first novel by a transgender author that features a transgender main character to hit the New York Times Best Sellers list.

Several Audible Original creators and producers, including Cumming and Goldman, producers of Hot White Heist, as well as Parrish, Meskers, Callendar, and Levy, are being featured on GLAAD’s website this month, and their titles are featured on the free download card that’s part of GLAAD’s Pride Unboxed gift.

This month’s guest curators include Samantha Allen, Nikki Levy, Kacen Callender, and Casey McQuiston, who shared personal recommendations with Audible customers. Audible Editor Michael Collina produced a story with volunteers from the Queer Newark Oral History Project—read or listen to it here.

We also held a company-wide virtual happy hour for our employees, featuring guest speaker Andy Marra of the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund (TLDEF), who talked about the current landscape for the trans community and how we can help organizations like the TLDEF make it better. In our ‘Out at Work’ panel for interns, Audible employees shared how authentic self-expression in the workplace has allowed them to be their best selves, both personally and professionally. Employees also spoke about the importance of an inclusive workplace on our social channels and on Movable Ink’s digital marketing podcast.

During the month of June, users who asked Alexa, “What’s free from Audible” were treated to our Words + Music production Road Trip Elegies from Rufus Wainwright. Also free to everyone this month is the Audible Original Path to Pride special, starring Lance Bass and Nikki Levy.

Check out our Pride landing page for new releases, curated lists, interviews, recent and previously released Audible titles from LGBTQIA+ creators, and more.