Stop Making Pride So Thin & White
Recently I saw a post by Tara Robertson (She/Her) asking for trans and non-binary people for Pride speaking engagements.
I immediately added myself to the list.
As soon I was getting excited, the comments reminded me of who is always centered for Pride. The comments after mine recommended the same thin White voices I see constantly. I was reminded that when people think Pride, they think thin White people, even when asking for trans speakers.
This reminder along with many Black speakers saying they were booked extremely less this year for Black History month really discourages me from continuing to do the work that I do. I was, however, delighted to see Yeong Cheng (They/Them) and Shannon Wong (She/They) make several comments encouraging others to take notice of who they were centering. Yeong specifically went in on how “speaker lineups and panels are homogenous monolithizations representing the most powerful people within the identity topic of the month.” They provided several comments that made sure to explain why and how “we end up with panels that are one token and a bunch of white people with limited to ignorant analysis on racial experiences and harm within their own communities.”
Shannon even provided instructions on how to find Black speakers via the Black Speakers collection.
I am thankful for these speakers using their voice to point out what we feel every June and hope more people think this way when planning for Pride.
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