regarding its complicity with entities that harm LGBTQ2S people.” (Two-Spirit communities refer to gender-nonconforming traditions inside some Native cultures.)
We need much more than a parade to make sure that trans women of color, LGBTQ2S homeless youth, Palestinian queerfolk, and so many others are able to celebrate too, instead of fighting for their lives with little to no help from the mainstream queer community.Īs a result, in recent years, the local group No Justice No Pride has protested Capital Pride for ignoring “the concerns of queer, trans, Black, Latinx, and Two-Spirit communities in D.C. Given that Pride began with the radical anti-police riots of the Stonewall Uprising, it’s not surprising that many find the current “rainbow capitalist,” police-celebrating version of Capital Pride and others like it around the country kind of gross. More generally, corporate sponsorship is ubiquitous throughout Pride events. In the Capital Pride parade in DC, for example, visitors were joined by floats from weapons manufacturer Northrop Grumman, the Metropolitan Police Department, and Wells Fargo. Lost in the partying, though, is the darker side of Pride. Pride marks a time when tens of thousands of people hit the streets in fabulous attire to dance, celebrate, and memorialize the spirit of love and resistance.
