Boston Pride ‘96 | Carla Osberg
In 1996, the Boston chapter of the Lesbian Avengers pushed a bed along the route of Boston Pride. During the march, members climbed on the bed and kissed and caressed through the streets. The goal was to create a blatant image of lesbian sexuality for public consumption as both an artistic and a political act, and make a statement about dominant hetero-normative rhetoric surrounding sex and sexuality.
The act caused a scandal, now known as “bedgate” which led to Pride organizers, news outlets, and even the mayor of Boston denouncing it as “distasteful and irresponsible”. The Boston Dyke March commission released a statement following the backlash, asserting “When we permit straights in suits to define us, chastise us or credit our good behavior, we lose power and the qualities that make us beautiful.”
The full statement by Lesbian Avenger Heather Janules can be read here.
[ID: a grainy black and white photo with a thin pink border. in the photo two lesbians are in a bed, one on all fours above the other and both their faces close. they both appear to be topless, and there’s two other lesbians pushing this bed through a street by its frame. it’s captioned in small text: “The Lesbian Avengers’ sexually explicit float raised the hackles of the Boston Pride Committee and the Mayor. Photo by Carla Osberg.” End ID]
