June 18, 2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: 
Francesca Barjon - 516-236-9091 - francesca23frb@gmail.com
Jay W. Walker - 917-776-4146 - jayw.walker@gmail.com 
Jon Carter - 215-668-4288 - jboydcarter@gmail.com

Reclaim Pride Coalition - Press@ReclaimPrideNYC.org 

RECLAIM PRIDE COALITION ANNOUNCES QUEER LIBERATION MARCH FOR BLACK LIVES AND AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY

SUNDAY, JUNE 28, LEAVING FOLEY SQUARE AT 1PM

MARCH DEMANDS RADICAL CHANGE IN POLICING
FULL FUNDING OF COMMUNITY NEEDS
SAFETY AND HONOR FOR BLACK TRANS LIVES

en español

June 18, 2020, New York City
On Sunday, June 28th, at 1pm, the Reclaim Pride Coalition will be in the streets of Manhattan for its second annual Queer Liberation March — the Queer Liberation March for Black Lives and Against Police Brutality. Marchers will gather at 12:45pm at Foley Square on Centre St and step off at 1pm sharp. 

Marchers are asked to wear face masks to protect against COVID-19 and to maintain safe distancing. Reclaim Pride can provide a limited number of masks, hand sanitizer and water to those who need them. And Reclaim Pride will livestream the March online at @queermarch on FB and Twitter/Periscope and via Youtube live on reclaimpridenyc.org for those who can’t attend in person. This March, like all current protest Marches, does not have a City/NYPD permit.

“We’re horrified by the police murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Layleen Polanco, Rayshard Brooks and untold numbers of others,” said Reclaim Pride’s Francesca Barjon, “and we’re mourning the endless violent deaths of Black trans women and men like Dominique ‘Rem’mie’ Fells and Riah Milton. So, inspired by the historic, Black-led protest movement that has taken to the streets here in NYC and across the world, Reclaim Pride supports demands for immediate defunding, disarming, and dismantling of police forces. We need a radically different system rooted in justice and community.”

Reclaim Pride joins with abolitionists such as Mariame Kaba and others in several cities in demanding a fifty percent reduction in the NYPD budget with a fifty percent reduction in the police force. Those funds must be dedicated to support and services including housing, healthcare, education and reparative and transformative justice for Black communities. New York City must prioritize reparations for those who’ve been oppressed and murdered for hundreds of years.

While all Black people are at constant risk of police brutality and murder, Reclaim Pride, as queer and trans activists , recognizes that Black Trans, Gender Non-Conforming, and Non Binary people, especially Black Trans Women, are faced with the intersection of vicious state and societal racism, transphobia, misogyny, and classism. This must stop now.

For the complete statement of purpose, see below or download the PDF

The March will be wheelchair accessible. For other questions about accessibility, contact access@reclaimpridenyc.org.
Website: www.reclaimpridenyc.org
Facebook: @QueerMarch
Facebook: Event Page
Twitter: @QueerMarch
Instagram: @QueerMarch
Reclaim Pride Coalition (RPC) is a New York City-based group comprised of LGBTQ+ activists in alliance with dozens of grassroots community groups, nationally and internationally. In June 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, RPC mobilized more than 45,000 people to recreate the original 1970 Gay Pride march route uptown from Stonewall to Central Park. This March, the Queer Liberation March, was a people’s protest march without corporate funding, corporate floats, or a police contingent.