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Fall festival at Mayme Moore Park Saturday, October 9th, with events all June long for Pride month!
WHY COMMUNITY PRIDE IN CENTRAL OHIO:
At Stonewall Columbus’ 2017 Pride parade, several community members stepped out into the street with the intent of bringing public attention to the lack of safe spaces for Black and brown LGBTQIA+ folks within the larger LGBTQIA+ community. Within one minute of leaving the curb, the group was accosted by aggressive CPD officers, who assaulted them with bikes, pepper spray, and sheer force. During this altercation, four folks––All Black and mostly Black trans and queer individuals––were arrested. They have become known as the #BlackPride4.
Despite hosting the parade at which this altercation occurred and claiming to be an advocacy organization “for all” LGBTQIA+ people in Central Ohio, Stonewall Columbus not only failed to aid the #BlackPride4 after their arrest, they refused communication with them and their supporters, resisted public calls for change and resignations, and, finally, testified for the prosecution in the #BlackPride4 trials of Wriply, Kendall, and Ashley.
Years later, in 2021 after all we’ve been through, things have not changed much. Stonewall rotates Black face after Black face within their Executive Director role only to gaslight and negotiate harm for the Black Pride 4 and QTIPOC, especially within community conversations and failed accountability processes. For listed reasons above and many many more, we believe our community deserves a space free of police, state violence, and rainbow capitalism. So, Community Pride 2021 FTP is here!!!
WHAT COMMUNITY PRIDE LOOKS LIKE:
Columbus Community Pride 2021: FTP will take place in June 2021 and October 2021. We will have safe in person events and virtual events in June and the actual in person festival on October 9th, 2021. With celebratory and educational events ranging from documentary showings with fabulous panelists to Queer Skate Night to sexual health workships, we hope to highlight the vibrant lives of QTIPOC and communities at other intersections of oppression. Community Pride will culminate in the Columbus Community Pride Festival on Saturday, October 9th which will include performance and visual artists, arts & crafts, a community resource fair, workshops, vendors, free water and a specific child care area! We are raising money so that every Community Pride event, including the Festival, will be FREE to attend.
We are committed to Community Pride being inclusive and safe for everyone. Community Pride will not be for police or corporate organizations. Rather, it will be a grassroots effort in support of the seeds of Pride: a community-based coalition which furthers the safety and liberty of the most marginalized in our communities. 50+ years ago, Pride started as a riot. Let’s honor our fierce leaders who fought for us years ago by providing a safe and inclusive space without corporations or police! In order to grow the promise of liberation for QTIPOC in Central Ohio and beyond, we must create space outside of white, cis, ableist corporate Prides.
WHERE YOUR DONATIONS GO:
Any funds raised will be used to fund Community Pride: to pay artists and invited speakers, to rent venues, to rent/purchase equipment, to advertise to the communities we most need to reach, to cover any food costs, to invest in culturally competent safety measures, and any other expenses associated with building our weeks of events for Columbus Community Pride 2021. Any additional funds will fund Community Pride 2022.
Again we want all events associated with Community Pride to be FREE to attend. We need your help to make this a reality!
Check out our website for details and updates at columbuscommunitypride.org.
