UPDATE: Rally CANCELED. To be Livestreamed at 11am on PrideHouston.org
From the Pride Houston Press Release:
HOUSTON:For over forty years, Pride Houston, Inc. has been an institution in Houston’s LGBTQIA+community. Now, in 2020 it is an institution led by a diverse board of directors andproduction team. This team, this board, our volunteers, and every member of ourcommunity are affected by the racial injustices not only in the abstract but personally as itcontinues to happen here in the streets of our own city and beyond. We are vigilantlyaware that our own ability to celebrate our Pride and our progress as LGBTQIA+ peoplecannot be taken for granted when protesters of similar and related movements, such as theBlack Lives Matter movement, take to the streets. It is with a determined mind that we atPride Houston, Inc. have decided that this year’s Pride Celebration will be a rally andmarch at Houston City Hall on June 27, 2020. We stand in solidarity with the Black LivesMatter movement and to recognize that Pride is not colorblind to the brutality of the worldwe are living in today.
“The task at hand is not only an issue for Black Lives but for everyone including theLGBTQIA community,” said Shannon Baldwin, Harris County Judge. “Black Lives areentitled to a seat at the table, to eat well and to breathe! Black Lives Matter!”Pride Houston, Inc. is aware of our responsibility not only to the intersecting Black andBrown people of our community, but also to all Black and Brown people throughout theworld. In fact, the very movement that spawned our ability to celebrate Pride and one ofour nation’s most notorious displays of protest took place outside the Stonewall Inn fiftyoneyears ago. The Stonewall Riots were the result of the resilience of the Black LGBTQIA+community. We thank the many queer and transgender people of color who have led theuphill battle over the decades. It is because of their fearlessness and resilience in the faceof such violent adversity and police brutality that we are able to not only celebrate ourPride every June at Stonewall’s anniversary, but to continue our fight for progress everysingle day of the year.
“The George Floyd murder met us at a time where we as a community fully understandthat All Black Lives Matter. Thus, the Black Lives Matter movement is also an LGBTQmovement. Our legacy of Stonewall reminds us that great change comes at a cost,” saidHarrison Guy, Chair Emeritus, Mayor Sylvester Turner’s LGBTQ Advisory Board.“Now it is time to take a stand and fight AGAIN against the homophobia, against theracism and against the cruel and illegal structures of power that discriminate against queerpeople and against people of color,” said Lo Roberts, President & CEO Pride Houston, Inc.Our organization’s logo has been revamped to not only include the traditional Priderainbow, but a rainbow that includes black and brown stripes, as well as the blue, pink,and white stripes representative of our trans, non-binary and gender non-conformingsiblings.
We welcome all Houstonians and city officials to join us in this rally to show solidarity andincite change. Our own fight for equality — one that still requires a tireless fight every day— began with assembly and protests. We will overcome and succeed as a community, as afamily that stands together, queer, black, ally, trans, gender non-conforming, immigrants,all united. Our voices are louder together. Together we march to raise the voices of thequeer community. And together we march to say BLACK LIVES MATTER and BLACKTRANS LIVES MATTER!