P3's Summer of Pride

Over the summer of 2025, the P3 research team attended seven pride events in and around New York City, with the goals of recruiting participants for the study, connecting with other organizations, and being present as part of the queer community. 

P3: Sex-Positive | Pleasure | Practices, an NIH-funded study led by Dr. Victoria Frye, Professor of Social Work and Co-Director of the Social Intervention Group, is centered on increasing HIV testing and PrEP uptake among Black, African-American, and/or Afro-Latino men who have sex with men by focusing on sex positivity and sexual pleasure. 

At all of the summer's Pride events, the P3 team worked in collaboration with the Columbia Research Unit and New York Blood Center's Project Achieve, key partners who work on HIV prevention, vaccine development, and treatment. At Queens Pride, John Bonelli, Director of Community Engagement for Project Achieve speaks to interested attendees.

New Queens Pride, the first event the P3 team attended this summer, is the second largest Pride parade in New York City and celebrated its 32nd anniversary in 2025.

On Saturday, June 21, the P3 team attended Bronx Pride. After a day of connecting with their community, they heard a speech from Minister Maxxavie Resto of Universal Life Church.

He said:

This Pride — this Bronx Pride — is not just a party. It’s a declaration: 
We are here. 
We are beautiful. 
We are unbreakable. 
And we will never go back.

Victoria Frye (left) and Mark Paige, P3 Co-Investigator and Project Manager, see attending Pride events as a time to connect with the community and enjoy themselves.

Mara Flynn, then a practicum student at Columbia School of Social Work, and Natalie Echavarria, a project coordinator for P3, pose at a table shared with the nonprofit CAMBA to show off some of the sexual health products the P3 team gave away at Brooklyn Pride on June 14. 

At the events they attended this summer, the P3 team distributed flyers with a link to the intake survey for the study, to support their goal of finding new participants. (Left)

For National HIV Testing Day on June 27, another Pride attendee offered custom magnets. (Right)

At Harlem Pride on June 28, Victoria Frye and Henry Peralta (from Columbia Research Unit and Project Achieve) pose in their disco-themed tent. 

"At these events, there's almost a one-to-one ratio of professionals to other attendees, so they're a great opportunity connect with peers," said Dr. Frye. "We're able to establish a lot of camaraderie and solidarity between organizations with similar goals, which is a huge part of building long-term partnerships and maximizing our impact."

At the tent shared by Project Achieve and Columbia Research Unit at Harlem Pride, Jorge Benitez (Columbia Research Unit, left) and Mara Flynn (P3, right) connect with the community. 

"Standing behind the P3 recruitment table at Pride events wasn’t just outreach—for me, it was service, it was ministry, it was joy! Every conversation with other Black gay men, whether African American or Afro-Latino, is a reminder that HIV research isn’t only about numbers, it’s about brothers helping save lives," said Mark Paige. "In New York and New Jersey, I wasn’t just recruiting participants—I was building trust, restoring hope, and making sure our stories were part of the science that shapes our survival. I believe Empowerment: is engaging in activities that increase feelings of autonomy, self-determination and love."

The disco tent made another appearance at Black Pride, held in Harlem on 127th Street. Here, Henry Peralta shows off his personal style among the disco balls.

Putting together the disco tent takes plenty of work, but it's well worth it. "There's a great deal of value in being present and part of the community," said Dr. Frye. "Ultimately, the goal of going to these Pride events isn't to recruit study participants. We want to build connections both with other organizations and with individuals, and most of all we want to join in the celebration of the queer community."