We stand with Taking B(l)ack Pride
Dearest community,
The shameful behavior of Capitol Hill Pride over the last few weeks has been extremely disheartening. We all know that racism is alive and well in the LGBTQIA+ community, but the subversive nature of anti-Blackness in Seattle and King County is literally killing Black Trans, Nonbinary, and Two-Spirit people who live here. Capitol Hill Pride‘s unapologetic anti-Blackness and transmisogynoir aimed at Trans Women of Color Solidarity Network, Queer the Land, and Alphabet Alliance of Color is what we would expect out of members of the Klan, not our supposed allies who talk like good white people.
It has been barely a year since CHOP, and for an entity such as Capitol Hill Pride, that self-identifies as an ally, to claim “reverse discrimination” for a Pride event centering the lives of Black, Queer, and Trans people is laughable. This is the exact performative allyship that forces the QTBIPOC community to not trust the intentions of our “allies.” The essence of Pride is always lost when we decenter the socio-economic gaps, violence, and discrimination that specifically Black, Queer, and Trans people face year-round. The title itself “Taking B(l)ack Pride” should inform you that this is a reclamation of space. And it should not be an issue for Black, Queer, and Trans and Two-Spirit people to charge outside community (more than often our oppressors) to be voyers in our spaces of mourning and celebration.
Black trans women, femmes, and AMAB non-binary people are the mothers of PRIDE. We must invest in their safety if we’re going to find collective liberation, and that means following their leadership, supporting their decisions, and uplifting organizers when they create safer spaces for the Black community to heal from the relentless pain of whiteness, transphobia, and misogynoir. As a society, it is our collective responsibility to hold the line, invest in their programming, and redirect funding so that they can survive the onslaught of anti-Blackness. We need to do more than eat thin mints and drink white supremacy-flavoured milk if we are going to protect the most marginalized members of our community in real, tangible ways.
Last year was thought to be the deadliest year for the Black Trans community. It’s not even halfway through 2021 and we’re easily going to surpass last year's violence by the end of summer. In 2020, we also saw a surge in financial support for the Black trans community, but that help has completely disappeared twelve months later. Capitol Hill Pride clearly has no empathy for the moratorium ending after this month and the communities that will be most affected: Black Trans Women, Two-spirit people, femmes, and nonbinary people. We are disgusted seeing how Charlette LaFerve has decided to side with whiteness over their Brownness. Reverse racism is not real, PERIOD, and we demand that Capitol Hill Pride:
Redirect all of its Pride funding to Trans women of color.
Gives a public apology and statement addressing the harm done to TWOCSN, Queer The Land, and Alphabet Alliance of Color.
Looks within and see why Capitol Hill Pride organizers feel they can enter any space they please, regardless of the community the space is intended for.
We have so much love for our siblings at TWOCSN, Queer the Land, and AAOC. We are so grateful for their incredible work in making a liberating space for us, and especially BTTF, to celebrate in a world where we have few safe places to be and celebrate. Taking B(l)ack Pride has become a community need since last year, and it will likely be the most important event of this PRIDE season. Allies, if you truly are interested in investing in our community’s future, please freely donate to TWOCSN today. Your support will ensure that Taking B(l)ack Pride will be the safety net our community needs right now.
With so much love and solidarity to our family,
Lavender Rights Project