pridepower

Dear community,

The stunning outcome of the presidential election has left many members of our community in shock, wondering what the future will hold for LGBT folks. Our president-elect has publicly declared that he would rescind marriage equality. Our vice-president-elect has publicly declared his opposition to equality for the LGBT community, and his support of the abominable practice of conversion therapy. Both have endorsed the idea of racial profiling and “nationwide stop-and-frisk.” This is particularly chilling for trans* members of our community, for people of color, for immigrants. Add to this our president-elect’s bragging about sexually assaulting women. We support a peaceful transition of power and the healing our nation greatly needs, but we will remain vigilant.

Years of progress in our society are at stake. The question for each and every one of us, individuals and organizations, is to decide what we will do about it. As the late Ted Kennedy proclaimed, “the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.”

Boston Pride renews its commitment to empowering our community through events and visibility, through education and discussions, through activism and engagement. Our team is ready to step up.

And we call on each and every one of you to step up as well. This is the time to organize. This is the time to mobilize. This is the time to lay the groundwork for continued progress in our beloved country. We will not back down and we will not stay silent. We will rise and we will shine.

Please consider joining Boston Pride or any other grassroots organization in our community. The time is now.

We invite you to attend our next Pride planning meeting, November 15th at 6:30pm at the Boston Pride office, 12 Channel St #503, Boston, MA. In the coming weeks, Boston Pride will announce further engagement opportunities. Everyone is always welcome to attend our committee meetings.

In Pride,

The Boston Pride board of directors: Sylvain Bruni, Linda DeMarco, Malcolm Carey, Charlene Charles, Marco Torres.