▼ LGBTQIA2S+ VIRTUAL TOWN HALL ANNOUNCED ▼
[Mar 20, 2022 - 4-6pm]
▼ LEAD-UP TO 4TH ANNUAL QUEER LIBERATION MARCH ▼
The Reclaim Pride Coalition Logo
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Jay W. Walker 917-776-4146
Paul Nocera 347-645-6509
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RPC TO HOLD TOWN HALL TO ENGAGE NYC LGBTQIA2S+ COMMUNITIES ON 2022 QUEER LIBERATION MARCH.
ADAMS'S HOMOPHOBIC/TRANSPHOBIC APPOINTMENTS, FL AND TX BILLS HIGHLIGHT THE NEED FOR A PEOPLE'S PROTEST PRIDE MARCH.
New York City, March 9, 2022
The Reclaim Pride Coalition (RPC) will hold a virtual TOWN HALL on Sunday March 20th, from 4 - 6pm to gather the full diversity of LGBTQIA2S+ people & our service organizations to fight against attacks against us - both locally and throughout the US.
Recent events at the national and local level have again highlighted the need for “People’s Protest” Pride Marches like the Queer Liberation March in cities across the country. The “don’t say gay” bill in Florida, the numerous bills attacking Trans student athletes in multiple states, and the white supremacist “anti-CRT” laws moving through many state legislatures highlight how deeply threatened LGBTQIA2S+ communities are.
At the local level, NYC Mayor Eric Adams has appointed 3 virulently homophobic, transphobic, and anti-choice men – Fernando Cabrera, Erick Salgado, and Gil Monrose – to influential positions in his newly created Office of Faith Based and Community Partnerships. “Mayor Adams created this office as a boondoggle for these hate mongers,” said Reclaim Pride Organizer, Paul Nocera. “We don’t wonder what sort of influence these men have over Mr. Adams and whether the creation of this office reflects a level of undue influence not seen since the Guiliani administration.”
In addition, Mr. Adams has remained silent on the story of Latee Brockington, a Black, Trans woman who was raped in custody three times due to the refusal of her Riker’s Island jailers to house her in an environment appropriate for her gender. Mr. Adams, a former police officer, is also responsible for the lack of NYPD accountability for the extraordinary level of violence committed by their officers against protestors over the past two years, including violence against participants in the 2020 and 2021 Queer Liberation Marches. “Mayor Adams seems to be determined to have protest signs featuring his face displayed prominently at this year’s Queer Liberation March,” said RPC organizer, Jay W. Walker.
The Town Hall will help shape the focus and urgency as we take to the streets on Sunday, June 26th to stage the fourth annual Queer Liberation March (QLM). As in the last three years, this is a peaceful People’s March with no regimented contingents, no corporate sponsors, and no NYPD control over decision making, nor uniformed police marching. The Queer Liberation March revives the goals and spirit of the original Christopher Street Liberation Day March in 1970, born out of the 1969 Stonewall Uprising: social justice, freedom, and access for all!
The organizers of the QLM recognize the challenges our almost all-volunteer team of organizers have faced in creating a safe, welcoming, and inclusive March. Up for discussion will be the challenges to organizing virtually since the onset of COVID-19, building equity into the work RPC does, and communicating externally to our wider communities. We will also focus on the continued harassment by members of the New York Police Department’s Emergency Response Team, which stationed phalanxes near our March endpoint and then used obvious pretexts to brutally attack community members gathered near the Washington Square Arch after the conclusion of both the 2020 and 2021 marches.
It is with these challenges in mind, that Reclaim Pride Coalition is announcing our 2022 Queer Liberation March Virtual Town Hall to discuss the all aspects of the QLM. We will touch on the realities of holding a peaceful, people’s protest March dedicated to social justice in a city that is now led by an NYPD veteran who has demonstrated in his short time in office a lasting antipathy to reforming even the worst, most racist, most homophobic and transphobic aspects of New York City’s police force.
The Town Hall will take place on Sunday, March 20, from 4pm - 6pm. All members of New York City’s diverse LGBTQIA2S+ communities are invited to attend, participate, share their thoughts and volunteer to help produce the event. Due to security concerns, prior registration will be required to attend. A link to register will be posted on all RPC social media platforms and on the homepage at https://ReclaimPrideNYC.org/links. Members of the Press are invited to attend.
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Reclaim Pride Coalition (RPC) is a New York City-based group of LGBTQIA2S+ activists in alliance with dozens of grassroots community groups, nationally and internationally. RPC’s primary work is organizing the Queer Liberation March (QLM). In June 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, RPC mobilized more than 45,000 people to recreate the original 1970 Christopher Street Liberation Day March route uptown from Stonewall to Central Park. In 2020, in the midst of the global pandemic, RPC held the Queer Liberation March for Black Lives and Against Police Brutality. The QLM is the annual people’s protest Pride march, without corporate funding; corporate floats; politicians’ grandstanding; or police control or involvement.
For Reclaim Pride Coalition’s complete statements of purpose
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RPC 2020 March - Demands & Safety Info
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More Info: Reclaim Pride Coalition
Organizers Volunteer - Sign-up: https://ReclaimPrideNYC.org/volunteer2022
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