Organizers of the annual LA Pride Parade and Festival announced during a meeting on Wednesday that, this year, the parade will be replaced by a protest march, which is being called the “#Resist March for LGBTQIA and POC Equality.”
The LA Pride website provided further details about its reasons for transforming the event, which takes place on June 11:
“Christopher Street West (CSW), the non-profit organization responsible for producing the annual LA Pride Parade and Festival in West Hollywood, has taken its New Year’s resolutions seriously…. Given the current political climate where divisiveness and discrimination continue to be part of mainstream dialogue, CSW is determined to make the LA Pride brand a unifying force for the LGBTQ+ community and its allies across all of Los Angeles. To accomplish this goal, the organization is introducing several community-focused initiatives to continue LA Pride’s long-standing history as a voice of and for the entire LGBTQ+ community.”
John Erickson, a Resist March committee member, told WeHoville that a quarter to half a million people are expected to participate in the main march down Santa Monica Boulevard as well as in several smaller protests around the city.
The Facebook page for the protest march doesn’t yet articulate specific demands, like the D.C. Women’s March did, but calls for a “peaceful” and “intersectional” public demonstration of unity.