June is an important month to highlight two key diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) milestones for Bostonians and Massachusetts residents to come together to support and uplift the various communities that call that Greater Boston Area home.
Boston Pride for the People is a new organization that is bringing back the Pride celebration to Boston this year.
In its own words, Boston Pride for the People is organizing the festival and parade “to commemorate the brave LGBTQ+ people who risked their safety to advocate for the lives and humanity of LGBTQ+ people, to celebrate the richness and complexity of LGBTQ+ community, and to continue to advocate for equity and inclusion for LGBTQ+ people, especially those who face intersecting forms of oppression.”
A major element of the Boston Pride for the People platform is to educate the community about the presence and impacts of systemic oppression. It seeks to advocate for disrupting and dismantling systems that cause harm to LGBTQ+ people, especially LGBTQ+ people who face multiple forms of marginalization. In particular, it will focus on the queer, trans, Black, Indigenous, and People of color (QTBIPOC) activists at the forefront of the 20th century lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, plus (LGBTQ+) movement and the ongoing and current movements for inclusion and intersectionality. This intentional focus on bringing visibility of QTBIPOC experiences to the forefront is a much welcome development to the Pride celebration, especially since the previous Boston Pride organization was disbanded in 2021 due to its lack of racial and transgender inclusion.
Other leading Boston-based organizations to engage with during this Pride season are the Transgender Emergency Fund of Massachusetts, Trans Resistance MA, the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition, BAGLY, the Massachusetts Commission on LGBTQ Youth, the Massachusetts LGBT Chamber of Commerce, GLAD and The Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ+ Advancement.
At a time when LGBTQ+ people are under attack from conservative politicians and right wing extremists, especially LGBTQ+ youth and the trans community, Pride takes on a more urgent and resolute meaning to counter hate with love, solidarity, and advocacy.