Whereas The Real L Word seems intent in sparking some sort of lame East Coast / West Coast rivalry, real real lesbians would rather not re-enact a lesbian version of the Death Row / Bad Boy beef of the late 1990s. (The lesbian version is limited to verbal sniping, not “real” sniping and hence not so “real” sniping.) Real lesbians are all about bi-coastal love, as you will see from many of the NYC Pride events for women. Are we sick of the word “real” yet? For real!

Here are a few highlights of festivities in NYC, the city where I reside and the birthplace of Pride. These are some of the most buzzed about girl parties this weekend.

Friday night

PROPOSITION PRIDE @ SLATE LOUNGE
54 West 21st Street, New York, NY
Cover: $10 in advance, $12 at the door
http://www.propositionnyc.com/2010/05/kick-off-your-pride-weekend-at-biggest.html
To kick of the weekend of mayhem known as NYC Pride, Prop will be taking over the entire Slate venue. It’s on!

Saturday night

TRUCKSTOP NYC @ TOUCH NIGHTCLUB f/ Proposition & Shescape
240 West 52nd Street, New York, NY
Saturday, June 26th, 10pm-4am
Cover: $20 before 11pm, $25 after, $20 Guests w/Rapture party wristbands
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/event.php?eid=131730960177245&ref=ts
Proposition and Shescape have teamed up with the much-hyped girl party from LA, Truckstop. This is Truckstop’s first east coast blowout, and they’re doing it with two of the top NYC girl party outfits. Shescape has been a fixture in the NYC scene for over 20 years, and Proposition runs the Friday night “it” party for women. Both are known for packing venues with an upscale and diverse crowd. This is the most talked about girl party Saturday night.

CHOICE C*NTS 3rd ANNUAL PRIDE PARTY @ SANTOS PARTY HOUSE
100 Lafayette Street, New York, NY
Saturday, June 26th, 9pm-4am
Cover: $15 w/ RSVP, $20 at the door
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/event.php?eid=123902630982128&ref=ts
Choice C*nts is one of the hottest parties in NYC and draws an eclectic, edgy, fashion forward crowd. They’re doing it up this year with a Belvedere Vodka sponsorship, so you can drink top shelf vodka without causing your glittery eye makeup to run when you see the tab, and they’ve booked internationally-acclaimed DJ Princess Superstar.

Sunday afternoon and evening

STILETTO PRIDE @ MARITIME HOTEL CABANAS – “Cirque Du Stiletto”
17th St & 9th Ave, New York, NY
Sunday, June 27th, 2pm-12am
Cover: $15 before 6 pm $20 after
http://www.myspace.com/stilettoevent
Maggie C is going all out this year. She will have a carnival theme complete with a high striker, dunk tanks, fortune tellers, a Voli Vodka snow cone bar, cotton candy and of course, eye candy. This party always draws a pretty crowd, and we like pretty.

Sunday night

RODEO DISCO 2 @ MASON DIXON
133 Essex Street, New York, NY
Sunday, June 27: 7pm until you pass out
Cover: $12 in advance, $20 at the door
http://www.autostraddle.com/autostraddles-rodeo-disco-2-back-in-the-straddle-47416/
You do not want to miss this. MTV’s Rachel Robinson is hosting. The cast of Anyone But Me will be there. DJ Saratonin, The Dinah’s DJ, has flown in from LA to rock this shit out. Oh, and there will be a mechanical bull. Lesbians riding a mechanical bull. Go.

I’ll also be popping in and out a few others places, including Stonewall on Friday night, Dyke March on Saturday, Rapture on Saturday, GirlNation Pride on Saturday, and the Pride March on Sunday. Is this schedule even feasible? Will I survive? Find out on AfterEllen.com the first week of July.

Where have I been so far? Here are some pics I took from NYC’s Pride Rally last weekend at Summer Stage in Central Park and Kiki, the newest girl party in Astoria, a trendy – but not annoying trendy – neighborhood in Queens.

Billie Myers @ The Pride Rally

Meshell Ndegeocello @ The Pride Rally

Photos from Kiki

See you around town!

All photos were taken by Grace Chu and may be shared under the terms of this creative commons license