When we sat down to compile the 730DC Scheduler selections for this weekend’s Pride celebrations, we found ourselves as a staff grappling with whether and how to highlight events sponsored by Capital Pride, as well as grassroots efforts to disrupt those events.

As our own LGBTQ staff members have reminded us, Pride was and is a protest. The first Pride celebrations came on the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, a series of riots led by QTPOC — specifically Trans Women of Color — rebelling against police violence targeting their communities. To honor the legacy of Pride and celebrate the possibility of queerness is to invoke that narrative of resistance, and to reaffirm that commitment to a world where everyone can live freely as their full, authentic selves.

Over the past several months, local activists with No Justice, No Pride, GetEqual, and others have called on the organizers of local pride events to remember that legacy, and re-examine their disproportionately white and wealthy governance structures, leadership, and sponsorships. We think these organizations and the many grassroots activists standing with them have drawn much-needed attention to an issue at the core of the struggle for LGBTQ liberation: how can a community that’s achieved so much progress in such a short period of time recenter the needs of those who’ve shared least in that progress?

After much reflection, we’ve decided to use our platform to uplift efforts to explore this question through protest, community gatherings, and healing spaces. This choice reflects our commitment to shining a light on local events that may go unnoticed by other outlets, and which we feel are critical to our ongoing struggle to forge a pluralistic and inclusive Washington.

See you in the streets and at the Turn Up,

730DC