Ru Paul winner Aquaria stars as Racing Pride holds spectacular first Miami Grand Prix Drag Race benefit event at R House Miami in support of the Harvey Milk Foundation
During the recent Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix, Racing Pride created a vibrant and unforgettable event hosted at the famous R House in Wynwood, Miami.
Starring Ru Paul’s Drag Race winner Aquaria and supported by both JP Morgan Private Bank and the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, this packed event held on the Friday of the Miami Grand Prix in one of the city’s most celebrated LGBTQ+ venues raised funds for the vital work of the Harvey Milk Foundation as well as for Racing Pride.
The evening began with guests, including VIPs such as recently-engaged social media power-couple Jordan Rand (one of Racing Pride’s North American based Ambassadors) and Alaire Thomas as well as Patrik Gallineaux (who recently judged the floats at Miami Beach Pride and is a leading ambassador for the LGBTQ+ community in the USA and beyond), being greeted boisterously outside the venue by CHEER Fort Lauderdale. This local cheer team regularly participates in Pride and charitable events, while raising money for homeless LGBTQ+ youth.
The energy brought by CHEER carried on and intensified into a motorsport-themed performance by 4 drag queens headlined by Aquaria and hosted by Patent Pending. It featured memorable moments such as one of the Queens chaotically navigating the R House venue in a mini car!
Stuart Milk, CEO of the Harvey Milk Foundation and nephew of Harvey, was in attendance as was European Champion racing driver Richard Morris – Racing Pride’s CEO & Co-Founder, who was recently named by Attitude Magazine as an Attitude 101 LGBTQ+ Trailblazer 2025.
In their speech, Richard spoke about the reasons Racing Pride was created – to provide visibility in a sport which has been heavily lacking in it historically, to educate, and, crucially, to build a supportive international community of LGBTQ+ people and allies through the sport. They went on to say how the spirit of Harvey Milk can serve as an inspiration to a generation facing very current challenges now. Richard closed by expressing how it is through a collective effort of allyship and mutual support that we can realise the core principle at the heart of Pride, “the very simple belief that everyone deserves to be who they are and love who they love”.
Stuart Milk, who was just 17 when his uncle was assassinated and now leads the Foundation perpetuating his legacy, emphasised that the crucial thing about Harvey, which created an enduring impact, was his leadership in terms of being visible – empowering LGBTQ+ people to be themselves, openly and fully, through his own courage in being so. Stuart said “it is never easy to be the first”, praising Richard’s leadership in forging the Racing Pride initiative which has led to a level of visibility within motorsport which never existed previously and likening this in some ways to Harvey’s example. Stuart stressed the importance of the community being there for all LGBTQ+ people at this moment – including Drag Queens, trans, and non-binary people.
Both Richard and Stuart praised Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood for their regular and ongoing support for the Harvey Milk Foundation’s work as well as their extensive contribution to this event in the form of both funding and of providing amazing raffle prizes such as experiences at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood and even a guitar decorated in the colours of the Progress Pride flag.
Another exciting prize was provided by Rodin cars in the form of a garage tour for two of their F1 Academy setup at the Miami International Autodrome during the race weekend.
The event was presented by R House in partnership with JP Morgan – a partnership brought together by Miami-based Racing Pride community member Daniel Chapman, who works at the firm. Daniel celebrated this partnership when introducing the event and expressed pride in being able to bring about a landmark first activation for the LGBTQ+ community at the Miami Grand Prix.
The event built on the momentum of previous international Racing Pride activations at Grands Prix, notably including the large-scale at-track Pride Hub co-hosted by Racing Pride and local charity Proud 2 Play at the Australian Grand Prix in 2024 and 2025 as well as Pride parties held in Austin alongside the US Grand Prix over the last two years.
Ultimately, this spectacular Miami event not only brought a diverse community of around 300 local and international guests together at R House for a joy-filled and memorable evening, it also raised over $3,000 for its non-profit beneficiaries to support their work.
Anyone can donate to the Harvey Milk Foundation via https://milkfoundation.org/donate or become a member of Racing Pride via https://racingpride.com/racing-pride-membership/.