Group running Philly Pride parade dissolves amid backlash, canceling upcoming festivities
The organization behind Philadelphia’s largest LGBTQ Pride parade has dissolved, leading to the cancellation of this year’s festivities, according to local media reports.
Philly Pride Presents, the nonprofit that has been responsible for running the city’s LGBTQ parade and festival for the last 28 years, has abruptly disbanded amid increasing criticism over some of the organization’s social media posts, which many saw as offensive to the trans community and to LGBTQ people of color.
The latest controversy came earlier this month, in a Facebook post that used language slammed as transphobic to describe patrons of the Stonewall Inn, the New York City bar where a series of violent protests in June, 1969 ushered in a new era in the fight for queer rights.
The post, written on June 10, also infuriated many in the LGBTQ community for portraying police officers as victims, when they were, in fact, the ones oppressing the community.
Shortly after the post was shared in the organization’s Facebook page, it disappeared without any explanations, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
A scathing opinion piece published in Philadelphia Magazine on June 14 added that, for “Philly Pride Presents to center police in its retelling of this moment was another dog whistle to community members of color that this event wasn’t a safe space for them.”
On Thursday the group apologized in another Facebook post, adding that the person responsible to write social media posts had resigned, and that organizers were “deeply sorry that these posts unintentionally offended and hurt the LGBTQ+ black, brown and trans community.”
By Monday, the organization’s phone line had been disconnected, The Inquirer reported.
Its Facebook page is also no longer available.
Celena Morrison, executive director of Philadelphia’s Office of LGBT Affairs, said that, “while this recent development is still unfolding, we understand the community’s need for a new vision of what LGBTQ+ Pride looks like here in Philadelphia.”
“The Office of LGBT Affairs has been in conversation with community leaders and activists as they prepare to reimagine Pride, and we look forward to supporting the many celebrations, rallies, protests, and programming already happening across the city, as the future of Pride in Philadelphia emerges — one that is reflective of the many diverse experiences of our city’s LGBTQ+ communities,” Morrison told The Inquirer.
According to local news site Billy Penn, Philly Pride was the largest LGBTQ Pride event in the region, and it normally attracted around 25,000 attendees.
The 2020 event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In April the organization announced that this year’s Pride celebration had been moved to Labor Day Weekend, three months later than usual.
