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BOYCOTT Boston PRIDE

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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. 

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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.

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DO NOT

  • Register for Boston Pride 2021

  • Participate in any Boston Pride 2021 programming (march, festival, online activities, etc)

  • Provide Boston Pride any funding, donations, support, or revenue

  • Apply to the powerless positions described in the so-called “transformation” plan

UNTIL

  • A transition plan developed in collaboration with Trans Resistance, community leaders of color, community organizations, and the resigned Volunteer Workforce is put into place

  • The bylaws are revised to enact a democratic governance structure that includes power sharing with the Volunteer Workforce and community voices, checks and balances, term limits, and transparent decision-making processes  

  • A sufficient number of board members resign so that new board members representing the diversity of our community have a majority vote

Instead

  • Support the Trans Resistance March 2021/Invest in BITQPOC (Black, Indigenous, Trans, Queer, People of Color) organizations

  • Demand a refund if you registered to participate in 2020

  • Add your name to the coalition of LGBTQ+ organizations that demand that the current Boston Pride board work in collaboration with community groups to transition to diverse new leadership and a democratic governance structure with formalized power sharing and checks and balances

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