A new organization called Boston Pride 4 the People is calling for the board of Boston Pride to step down and has proposed a transition plan to “help ensure continuity and stability during the transition to a more diverse board who will turn their focus on the lives of Queer and Trans, Black People, Indigenous People, and People of Color,” according a June 30 press release from the group. The new group is made up of former Boston Pride committee leaders and volunteers.
Reports Boston Public Radio station WBUR, “Boston Pride 4 The People lists a number of grievances with the board of Boston Pride, including underfunding and racial microaggressions. Boston Pride recently came under fire for what some view as their lackluster statement on police brutality and Black Lives Matter. Boston Pride 4 The People claims the board revised the original statement the volunteer communications team drafted and omitted ‘Black Lives Matter.'” Their June 30 press release also lists examples they find of the board’s “poor relationship with LGBTQ+ communities of color” that they say has “worsened in the past decade.”
Reports WBUR:
“We wrote in that statement, ‘We stand with Black Lives Matter. We stand against police brutality,'” says Casey Dooley, the former chair of Boston Black Pride. “The communications team then gave that letter to the board. The board then proceeded to take out Black Lives Matter and police brutality.”
The public reaction to Boston Pride’s revised statement was so negative that the organization postponed the majority of its June events and issued an apology. “Events over the past week have led the Boston Pride Board to examine itself and acknowledge that it needs to do more as a social justice organization to take substantive action to better address racism and white privilege within Boston Pride, the LGBTQ+ community and society at large,” the organization wrote.
Following the backlash, members of Boston Pride’s Black and Latinx committees met with the board and presented a letter and a list of demands. “We explained how, if they would not resign, that we would be resigning ourselves,” Dooley says. “So over 80% of the volunteer force ended up resigning because the board came back and basically said…they won’t be stepping down.”
On June 24, the Boston Pride’s board announced it was hiring the consulting firm Dorrington & Saunders LLC to “work with the board on transformational changes regarding diversity and inclusion.”
“We have heard the voices from our community and we know that Boston Pride must take more substantive steps towards becoming more diverse throughout our organization, including in our leadership,” said Boston Pride President Linda J. DeMarco in a June 24 press release, as we reported last week.
“It is important for the community to know that Boston Pride supports the Black Lives Matter movement and the efforts to end systemic racism and police brutality against Black and Brown people including the LGBTQ+ community,” said DeMarco.
Boston Pride 4 the People issued their press release several days after Boston Pride made this announcement and indicated in the release that the hiring of the consultants was not enough to meet the group’s concerns.
Read the full WBUR story here. For more on Boston Pride 4 the People, including their June 30 press release, go to the Boston Pride 4 the People website here. Find the Boston Pride website here, where you can also find their statements and announcement on the hiring of the consultants.
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