#bqic

[queerandawarearts-blog]

Hey Ohio folks, a group of organizers are working to establish a pride festival and events to celebrate queer and trans people of color! 

Check out the website at columbuscommunitypride.org

Events will take place June 1st–16th, 2018

Donations are welcome, we’re raising money so that every Community Pride event, including the Festival, will be free to attend.

[cscclibrary]

Back to Our Roots

June is LGBTQ+ Pride season in many countries, and Columbus has a long history of being welcoming to the LGBTQ+ community.  The Stonewall Columbus Pride festival, which is being held this weekend, is an event that draws attendees from all parts of the community, and from all over Central Ohio.

During last year’s Stonewall Columbus Pride parade, four individuals staged a peaceful protest asking for a pause in the parade to honor the disproportionate violence and marginalization which people of color in the LGBTQ+ community face, as well as longstanding issues with police brutality towards people of color.  They were met with police violence and criminal charges.

Out of that event grew Columbus Community Pride, the first festival of its kind in Columbus: a Pride festival with a truly intersectional focus, one which foregrounds groups who are marginalized in the mainstream LGBTQ+ community (such as people of color and people with disabilities), and one which aims to be for the community, by the community, without corporate sponsorship and police presence.  The increasing incorporation of police (whose harassment of LGBTQ+ individuals instigated the original Stonewall Riots) and corporate sponsorship into mainstream Pride events around the world has been under criticism in recent years, as has been the erasure of transgender people and people of color from LGBTQ+ history.

Columbus Community Pride’s celebration culminates this Saturday with a Pride festival at Mayme Moore Park.  All are welcome.

[nokillbananashelter]

So if you've had any exposure to the lgbtqia politics in Columbus Ohio in the past year or so, you've probably heard about the Black Pride Four, who are Black Queer/Trans folx who got woefully mistreated and arrested for protesting in front of our pride parade. They stood out in front of the parade, peacefully, to bring attention to the mistreatment of trans women of color and the continual police brutality towards people of color/nonindictments of police officers facing the country. 3 of the BP4 have been found guilty and charged with accounts like resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. Stonewall Columbus has been antagonistic at best towards the BP4, and has done nothing to really make amends and acknowledge our Pride has become deaf towards the struggles of queer POC and reliant on the CPD. Wriply Bennet is about to have her sentencing which might result in some pretty traumatizing jail time for peacefully protesting. She's an incredibly valuable member of the community whose acted as a consultant in local LGBTQIA organizations, and is a pretty cool artist too. It would mean a lot for this city if she continued to flourished uninhibited by jail time which may endanger her. This needs to be put on blast and any assistance is going to be impactful. Whether you're from Columbus or not, please consider signing this petition to get Wriply's sentencing as minimal as possible.