“The community response was immediate and overwhelming,” said JP Delgado Galdamez, Communications Associate at The Network/La Red via a release sent to The Rainbow Times after the mass resignation took place. The purpose of Pride 4 the People is to bring Pride back to the people.”Īnd others, too, denounced BP’s lack of support for Black Lives Matter. “We want to address issues that affect our community - racism, white privilege, transphobia, etc. “ want to preserve Pride, but refocus back on the community,” said Triglio in 2020 - a resigned member who was also selected as the Boston Pride Grand Marshal in 2018.
In July 2020, BP was contacted by Boston Pride 4 The People - founded by resigned committee chairs and volunteers of Boston Pride - and they demanded “BP’s board of directors step down citing a long history of allegations of racism and transphobia stemming from the board leadership,” according to a previous report by The Rainbow Times.
Their actions involve a series of events including what has been explained as a “unilateral decision to remove any reference of Black Lives Matter” from an official “statement on police brutality after the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Tony McDade.” That alleged covert move lead to the resignation of 80 percent of Boston Pride’s volunteer workforce in June 2020, according to a former statement from Jo Triglio (they/them), former Boston Pride Communications team, and co-founder of Pride 4 The People (P4TP). In June 2020, BP came under fire after an initial official statement about Black Lives Matter’s protesters and police brutality backfired. In solidarity with Trans Resistance MA and Pride 4 the People, GLAD supports the Trans Resistance March and Vigil for Black Trans Lives taking place on June 12.” “Guided by our organizational values of justice and lived equality inclusion, equity, and mutual respect collaboration and anti-racism, GLAD will not be participating in official Boston Pride, BP, events in 2021. “Boston deserves a Pride in which Black and POC LGBTQ+ community members have a strong voice in leadership and which works to address the issues causing harm to our community, including systemic racism and police violence.
“Pride is about protest, celebration, and community and should be a welcoming, safe space for all,” read GLAD’s statement. BOSTON-GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders ( GLAD) joined in solidarity with Black trans leaders and former Boston Pride volunteers in calling for transformation at the Boston Pride organization.