L.A. Pride, one of the world’s largest celebrations of the LGBTQ community, will return to its roots this year after it was announced the festival will now act as a resistance march.
Inspired by the actions of the Women’s March and the changing political climate, the Pride Festival has teamed up with the LGBT Resist March to turn the usual onslaught of floats and parade festivities into a demonstration to “unifying force for the LGBTQ+ community.” The news came Wednesday (March 8) during a meeting with leaders of the Resist March and Christopher Street West, the group that plans the LA Pride, WEHOville reports.
“We’re doing everything we can to make sure that the people who come to the city, sometimes only once or twice a year, are going to see something familiar [at the pride festival],” CSW board president Chris Classen said. Making sure the event goes off without any glitches will be the next steps. Due to heavy construction in West Hollywood Park, Classon says the festival is losing almost 70 percent of its “footprint.” This can prevent the growth of music acts thrived last year, but a relief to those who weren’t fans of LA Pride’s rebranding.
The protest will take place in the city June 11, which will also be held in other cities across the country. With over half a million people predicted to show up the event, coordinators are making sure there’s enough space to be righteous and most of all, safe.
“We hope hundreds of thousands of people show up, with this idea of resisting,” Brian Pendleton, co-organizer of the Resist March LA said via Queerty. “We want to resist apathy. We want to resist having our rights rolled back by an unenlightened administration. And we want to be all-inclusive. We want to make sure that it’s everyone in the rainbow spectrum out there being represented.”
Since the start of 2017, seven trans women of color have been killed, with three happening in Louisiana. While the homicides weren’t connected, advocates are worried for the safety of trans woman in their communities. Last year, over 20 trans women were murdered. Most of the victims were Latino and black and sadly, unsolved.