Held during Pride weekend on June 28, 1997, the Third Annual Dance on Manhattan transformed Chelsea Piers into a sprawling benefit for Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC) and Empire State Pride Agenda, New York’s leading LGBTQ civil rights lobbying organization. By the late 1990s, large-scale dance benefits had become central to the fundraising ecosystem of New York’s LGBTQ organizations. What set this event apart was its extraordinary sponsorship list, printed in full across the back of the poster. National brands like Pepsi-Cola, Miller Brewing, Tanqueray Sterling, and Virgin Megastore shared billing with LGBTQ-owned businesses, nightlife promoters, magazines, and hundreds of individual supporters. Their participation indicated that the stigma around AIDS was no longer something companies feared. Benefit events like this one drew both praise and critique. While many celebrated the increasing corporate sponsorship as a sign of visibility and political legitimacy, others raised concerns about the commercialization of gay space and the dilution of activist intent. Scholars and activists noted that some sponsorships prioritized branding over sustained support, echoing broader debates around the corporatization of Pride. As noted on the poster, the event was dedicated to the “creative spirit and unfailing energy of Bruce Mailman (1939–1994),” a pioneering figure in New York’s gay nightlife. Mailman founded The Saint, a legendary private dance club that helped define the cultural life of gay men in the 1980s, and the New St. Marks Baths, one of the city’s most iconic bathhouses. Both venues played vital roles in the early response to AIDS—hosting fundraisers, distributing safe-sex materials, and supporting organizations like GMHC. Mailman died of AIDS-related complications in 1994.