THE NETWORK/LA RED ANNOUNCES OUR BOYCOTT OF BOSTON PRIDE FOR THE PEOPLE
We Encourage Organizations and Individuals to Instead Support and Show Up for the Pride Liberation Contingent on June 8th, 2024
On June 4, 2024, Liberate Boston Pride, Act Up Boston, Jewish Voice for Peace Boston, Trans Resistance MA and Lucy Parsons Center collectively called out Boston Pride for the People (BP4TP or P4TP) for collaborating with the Israeli Consulate, participating in pinkwashing for the last year, accepting sponsorships from corporations like Delta Airlines, State Street, and Fidelity, and coordinating with police for the parade and festival. We amplify their message, shared in a letter on the Liberate Boston Pride website, liberatebostonpride.wordpress.com:
“Over two years ago, an organization named Pride for the People (P4TP) revived the general pride parade from Boston Pride in June. It was named after its mission: to bring back pride for queer people, by queer people, in addition to ‘commemorating the Stonewall riots’ and to ‘Educate on the presence and impacts of oppression and advocate against oppression through disrupting and dismantling systems that cause harm to LGBTQ+ people.’ We are disappointed but unsurprised to learn that not only has P4TP not addressed its pinkwashing efforts from last year, but that it has not spoken out in support of a Free Palestine. In addition, it has continued to accept corporate sponsor money from unethical companies, including Delta Airlines, State Street, and Fidelity. It invites corporate ERGs instead of unions to march in the parade. And finally, it coordinates with cops, a longstanding enemy of queer people and their liberation.
This ‘pride’ is not for the people.
We, as greater Boston queer community, demand better of the people that seemingly represent us, that wish to uplift their chosen community. But that chosen community must be all of the community, not corporations or cops. Despite several outreach efforts from the community, P4TP chose NOT to uplift queer and Palestinian liberation and prioritize Zionists, corporations, and cops. In the words of Stonewall uprising leader Marsha P. Johnson, there can be ‘No Pride for some of us without Liberation for all of us.’”
Oppression informs abuse, and in all cases of oppression, humanity, agency, and access to a full sense of self are denied. Communities are prevented from living, surviving, thriving, and simply being and when they fight back in self-defense to gain or regain agency they are condemned, fired upon, and locked up. The Network/La Red (TNLR) interrupts people, systems, and narratives that perpetuate the myth of mutual responsibility for systemic cycles of abuse. We are against the militarized oppression of our communities worldwide, and we support the safety, dignity, and self-determination of all survivors in our communities, including LGBTQ+ Palestinian survivors in occupied Palestine and the diaspora.
For 35 years, TNLR has been committed to supporting survivors of partner abuse (domestic violence) and has utilized our anti-oppression framework to uplift the voices of survivors living at the intersections of the most marginalized identities in our society. This commitment is demonstrated in our participation in and sponsorship of various pride events, where many LGBTQ+ survivors are in attendance, seeking support around their experiences and their safety. This year, we sponsored 10 pride events, including Boston Pride for the People.
We recognize now that our sponsorship of BP4TP existed in contradiction to our commitment to anti-oppression, and it is imperative that moving forward, we continue to uplift the movements created and led by our own community members to uproot the interconnection of oppressive systems in our local communities. We appreciate the 56 organizations listed on liberatebostonpride.wordpress.com demanding accountability to divest from Zionist, Pro-Israel and corporate sponsorship, and end collaboration with police, the Israeli consulate, and Zionist groups. There is no pride in genocide.
This is what anti-oppression looks like in real time – this is what it looks like to identify, confront, and take action against all forms of oppression and to work in solidarity with other movements striving to end oppression and violence. This is what it looks like to hold ourselves and each other accountable to our anti-oppression principles. TNLR is committed to responding accordingly. We join the call for Boston Pride for the People to do the same.
TNLR is supporting Liberate Boston Pride, Act Up Boston, Jewish Voice for Peace Boston, Trans Resistance MA and Lucy Parsons Center. Read their full letter at liberatebostonpride.wordpress.com and sign on by sending a direct message to @liberatebostonpride4ever on Instagram. We will be joining the Pride Liberation Contingent and encourage all other individuals and organizations to boycott BP4TP and join us at 11:30am on June 8th, at the intersection of Berkeley St & Boylston St.
To learn more about Liberate Boston Pride, Act Up Boston, Jewish Voice for Peace Boston, Trans Resistance MA and Lucy Parsons Center, visit their websites and social media accounts:
- Liberate Boston Pride
Website: liberatebostonpride.wordpress.com
Instagram: @liberatebostonpride4ever - Act Up Boston
Facebook & Instagram: @actupboston - Jewish Voice for Peace Boston
Website: jvp-boston.org
Instagram: @jvpboston - Trans Resistance MA
Website: transresistancema.com
Instagram: @transresistancema - Lucy Parsons Center
Website: lucyparsonscenter.org
Instagram: @lucyparsonscenter