Come with us to the march! Email carolyn@aarw.org to get connected to folks that are going. Info about the march below:
In early June 2020, 80% of Boston Pride’s Volunteer Workforce resigned after the Pride Board removed “#blacklivesmatter” and rewrote a statement, written by the Communications Team, condemning unjust, racist police violence, and posted it without consulting the Chair of Black Pride or the Communications Team. The statement was met with public outrage over Boston Pride’s persistent and ongoing neglect of issues of racism and white-centeredness. Community leaders of color responded by organizing the Trans Resistance March and Vigil. Thousands convened at Franklin Park on what would have been the 50th anniversary of Boston Pride to bring Pride back to its roots and to protest police violence against the trans and gender nonconforming community.
The resigned Volunteer Workforce, along with LGBTQ community leaders of color, demanded the current Pride Board step down, and proposed a transition plan to diversify the board and rewrite the bylaws to include power sharing, checks and balances, and transparency. The Board refused.
After six months of silence, the Boston Pride Board has released a transformation plan decorated with bells and whistles that attempts to divert attention away from the lack of structural transformation that is being proposed. This proposed “transformation” process is merely a fancy performance designed to protect the absolute and exclusive power of the current board. It includes no structural change: no change to the bylaws, to the distribution of power within the organization, nor to the majority vote of the current Board.
BOYCOTT BOSTON PRIDE 2021
Do not...
apply to these powerless positions
register to march with Boston Pride; demand a refund if you registered to participate in 2020
sponsor or donate money to Boston Pride
Until ...
a transition plan developed in collaboration with community organizations and the resigned Volunteer Workforce is put into place
the bylaws are revised to include power sharing with the Volunteer Workforce, with checks and balances
a sufficient number of board members resign so that new board members have a majority vote
Pride for the People is asking all individuals, organizations, and businesses to not support the continued structural white-centeredness and racism maintained by the current Board of Boston Pride. Instead, join Trans Resistance at the 2nd annual March & Vigil, June 12th 2021 at Franklin Park.