No Justice No Pride - DC Day Of Action

**** RSVP HERE: https://actionnetwork.org/events/no-justice-no-pride-dc-day-of-action ***** Festival: https://www.facebook.com/events/128607524353453/ Day time actions: https://www.facebook.com/events/332950210456014/ Night March: https://www.facebook.com/events/127396857808978/ No Justice No Pride is a collective of organizers and activists from across the District of Columbia. We exist to end the LGBT movement’s collusion with systems of oppression that further marginalize queer and trans individuals. General Goals: - Unseat and Replace Capital Pride Board with members from historically marginalized communities, Shift power around LGBTQ+ rights from D.C.’s elite to historically marginalized communities, and allow campaigning around critical issues. - Change the narrative that D.C.’s government and MPD are doing “right” by our communities. - Create a community of resistance and radicalism around LGBTQ folks. - Correct the falsehood that Pride would not be possible without corporate sponsorship and branding, and bar from participation all industries that profit from war, detention and incarceration, environmental destruction, evictions, and community displacement. ********************* More Details Below ****************************** But I want to go to the festival, is there an alternative being planned? Check out our alternative festival for more info:https://www.facebook.com/events/128607524353453/ Will there be a direct action or a march? Please RSVP here for day time actions: https://www.facebook.com/events/332950210456014/ Please RSVP here for the Night March: https://www.facebook.com/events/127396857808978/ I'm in DC and I want Capital Pride to know why pinkwashing is wrong and harms my community: Join us and pack their board meeting on may 8th! https://www.facebook.com/events/1937159639850219/ I'm in DC and want to get involved: Come to a planning meeting - https://www.facebook.com/events/798097917015916/ ********************* More context ****************************** The first Pride march commemorated the Stonewall riots of June 1969. Over decades of active campaigning for LGBTQ rights, Pride has been both a celebration of our existence and a continued call to oppose the private and state forces that seek to harm us. The current anti-LGBTQ+ political environment demands that we highlight our ongoing struggles against oppression, and center the voices of our most oppressed and marginalized community members: people of color and transgender individuals. **** RSVP HERE: https://actionnetwork.org/events/no-justice-no-pride-dc-day-of-action ***** Organizers of LA Pride and New York Pride have recognized the importance of this moment, and vowed a return to the political roots of our movement. Elsewhere, community leaders have demanded accountability and recognition at Phoenix Pride and Toronto Pride, despite event organizers’ attempts to dismiss their concerns. In DC, Capital Pride has consistently ignored calls for divestment from corporate sponsorship and predatory financial institutions, and a return to focusing on broader community needs. This is not surprising. While charging non-profit community organizations $400 to participate in the parade, Capital Pride “pinkwashes” harmful institutions: announcing to the world that state agencies and private companies are “LGBTQ-friendly” by draping a rainbow veil over their destructive activities. Its overwhelmingly white, cis, professional, middle-aged Board repeatedly make clear with whom their priorities lie. **** RSVP HERE: https://actionnetwork.org/events/no-justice-no-pride-dc-day-of-action ***** Capital Pride sponsors harm our communities, locally, nationally, and globally. For example: Predatory financial institutions, Bank of America / SunTrust / Wells Fargo etc. the bail-out, debt pursual, targetting black and low-income communities during foreclosure crisis, investment in oil, prisons, detention, etc… LGBTQ community members fighting foreclosure or defending indigenous land forced to clap as their oppressors float by... Wells Fargo is a big winners in its relationship with Capital Pride, taking more away from our community than it “gives back.” Community organizers in DC have been campaigning for local institutions to divest from Wells Fargo due to the violent industries in which it, like other Big Banks, invests: quote GetEqual here. **** RSVP HERE: https://actionnetwork.org/events/no-justice-no-pride-dc-day-of-action ***** In 2016, GetEqual challenged Capital Pride to end its association with Wells Fargo. The Capital Board dismissed their call for action. In fact, Capital Pride currently banks with Wells Fargo--transferring its accounts because of its promised sponsorship. Capital Pride’s $1+ annual revenue from the community directly contributes to investments in private detention centers and oil pipelines, and of course, to Wells Fargo’s related lobbying activities. Use of a community-based bank or credit union would see Capital Pride funds support local, productive, projects. Pride Under President Trump, business is booming for weapons manufacturers Lockheed Martin, Leidos and Northrop Gruman, whose relationships with Saudi Arabia (where homosexuality is punishable by execution, imprisonment, or public flogging) are a particular source of pride. War is extremely profitable to these companies--and Lockheed Martin in particular, which has engaged in illegal lobbying activities to meet its goals. **** RSVP HERE: https://actionnetwork.org/events/no-justice-no-pride-dc-day-of-action ***** Presidential plans to pour billions into Defense, while decimating funding for social programs; the arts and humanities; public schools, and countless other vital services are cause for celebration to LM, NG and Leidos, who are also deeply invested in surveillance technologies, and are not afraid to spread fear and suspicion to win meaty contracts. The CEO and president of Maryland’s Live! Casino is David Cordish, “one of the key alliances in President [Trump’s] inner circle,” according to the Financial Times. Parade and Festival participants also benefit from the pinkwashing effect: The FBI/CIA Metropolitan Police Department Local Police Departments Politicians with well known views that harm our communities At the corporate level, these corporations may provide excellent support to individual LGBTQ staff members. A “100 rating” on the HRC “Equality Index” (a “bar is so low, it’s underground” according to AutoStraddle) only disguises the broader harms that these companies commit. Capital Pride points to the “contributions” that these groups make to their LGBT staff, and to their investments in attracting the “pink dollar,” and says it is “proud” of its corporate associations. In doing so, they are explicitly prioritizing individual gains for the least vulnerable members of our LGBTQ family over security and wellbeing for all. **** RSVP HERE: https://actionnetwork.org/events/no-justice-no-pride-dc-day-of-action ***** Put simply, sponsors and corporate participants gain more from Pride than the community members it is intended to represent. As Amy Drayer, vice president of strategic initiatives with the GLBT Community Center of Colorado, says: "Nobody sinks multiple thousands of dollars into a festival on an investment without an expectation on return." Capital Pride spokespeople agree, eagerly framing Pride-goers as “a whole market” ready to have their buying choices “influenced” by sponsors, who don’t want to “miss out” on this great marketing opportunity, according to Capital Pride’s own Missy Toms. Capital Pride claims that their events could not take place without high-profile sponsors like Hilton and Marriott, two hotel groups very actively and explicitly courting their slice of the $202 billion LGBT travel market. Kate Gibbs, of tourism group Destination DC confirms: “LGBT travelers who come to D.C. for pride and year round, for business and leisure, make a big impact on the local economy. [...] and we’re eager to capitalize on the spending power of LGBT travelers whether they are coming for a family vacation or a party-filled pride weekend.” These businesses gain direct financial rewards from people coming to DC for Pride. They “give back” a tiny proportion of what we give to them. They need DC Pride-goers. DC Pride-goers do not need to see their event rebranded as “Capital Pride Parade presented by Marriott Rewards.” Sponsors also dictate the tone of the event. If Capital Pride were to be explicitly political, and to explicitly oppose Trump Administration policies, sponsorship money (including from Trump’s “key ally” at Casino Live!) would dry up. In keeping sponsors and state agency participants happy, and shielding them from criticism even while they exploit our community in numerous ways, Capital Pride is making clear where its priorities lie. A community-led alternative is not only possible, but necessary. **** RSVP HERE: https://actionnetwork.org/events/no-justice-no-pride-dc-day-of-action *****