Sunday, November 12, 2-4:30pm, Broad Street United Methodist Church, 501 E. Broad St.

On Sunday, November 12, 2-4:30pm, Black Queer and Intersectional Columbus (BQIC) will hold a town hall to discuss a community pride to take place in June 2018.

Corporate pride parades and festivals, as they stand, are unable to represent the most marginalized people in the LGBTQIA+ community. In response to the arrests of four Black queer and trans people at Stonewall Columbus’ 2017 Pride parade, we invite the community of Columbus and Greater Ohio to join us in putting together a true community pride that explicitly focuses on the needs and wishes of LGBTQIA+ people of color and condemns police brutality on our communities.

On June 17, 2017, a small group of Black LGBTQIA+ individuals and their allies interrupted the Stonewall Columbus Pride parade; these individuals had intended to silently occupy the street for seven minutes to draw attention to police brutality (local and national) in addition to the injustices faced by LGBTQIA+ people of color. Within two minutes, Columbus Police Department officers kicked and pushed protesters, shoved them with their bikes, pepper-sprayed them, and more. Amid this police violence, four people — now known as the #BlackPride4 — were arrested and charged with offenses ranging from misdemeanor resisting arrest to felony aggravated robbery.

Since the Pride arrests, BQIC has been fighting to get the #BlackPride4’s charges dropped and building with others for a movement against police brutality; this intersectional movement is ultimately working towards the liberation of all Black queer and trans people, which will in turn mean the liberation of all people and all communities, in Columbus and beyond.

Hosted by Black Queer and Intersectional Columbus.