FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

----------------- CONTACT ---------------

 -     click on linked name to email directly     -

Jay W. Walker 

(917) 776-4146 

*** BREAKING***

RECLAIM PRIDE COALITION TO HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE TO ANNOUNCE DETAILS OF THE 5TH ANNUAL QUEER LIBERATION MARCH: TRANS + QUEER, FOREVER HERE.

JOINED BY BLACK TRANS LIBERATION'S QWEEN JEAN AND NYCLU'S ISABELLE LEYVA, RPC ORGANIZERS WILL ALSO ADDRESS ONGOING ATTACKS BY NYPD ON BACK, BROWN AND LGBTQIA2S+ LED PROTEST MARCHES.

New York City, June 20, 2023 — 

On Wednesday, June 21 at 12 Noon, The Reclaim Pride Coalition (RPC), organizers of the fifth annual Queer Liberation March (QLM) will be joined by community leaders, advocates and activists to announce March, Rally, and Livestream plans for Queer Liberation March: Trans + Queer, Forever Here, as well as the Community Health Fair to be held by our partners, Treatment Action Group.

The press conference will also be an opportunity for members of New York City's LGBTQIA2S+ advocacy and activist communities to hold NYPD and their Strategic Response Group to account for their longstanding and recently intensified attacks on the constitutionally protected rights of free speech and assembly for Black, Brown, Queer, and Trans New Yorkers demanding justice and safety for our communities. 

"We are holding this press conference to be transparent about our plans and our expectations of the NYPD as Pride Sunday approaches. Since 2020 we have not applied for permits because we do not believe that the NYPD should be in charge of permitting protests that they routinely attack; but our volunteer marshals will ensure that our march is as safe as possible for all. The NYPD may feel free to guard their barricades at the HOP parade because they are not wanted or needed at the Queer Liberation March," said Jay W. Walker, an RPC/QLM Co-Founder.

While the Mayor plans his Pride Reception on Thursday, folks on the ground know that his NYPD are attacking community leaders. "The ongoing violence toward the trans community is a nationwide crisis and the current mayor administration condones NYPD violence against us when we stand against it. Adams performs allyship, but doesn't practice it," says Qween Jean, founder of Black Trans Liberation (BTL), who will relate her experience of being arrested and assaulted by police after an overwhelming number of NYPD officers attacked a peaceful rally and march BTL organized on May 31 to launch Pride Month. 

Isabelle Leyva, Senior Organizer for the New York Civil Liberties Union will share updates on the grassroots effort to permanently disband the NYPD's Strategic Response Group, which exists solely for the purpose of creating violence and chaos at peaceful protests held by organizations and collectives to demand justice for marginalized individuals and their communities. According to Leyva, “the Mayor and City Council must disband the militarized NYPD Strategic Response Group that has been responsible for brutally suppressing LGBTQ+ protestors and those that stand with them. From police violence against LGBTQ+ protesters to decades of violent and discriminatory policing, the NYPD must come to terms with its legacy. That means acknowledging that for many, police presence is a source of trauma, not safety or pride. It’s time to stop bloating the NYPD’s coffers and reimagine what keeps communities safe and secure."

WHAT: Queer Liberation March Press Conference

WHEN: Wednesday, June 21, 12:00 Noon EST

WHERE: Stonewall National Monument Park, Sheridan Square

WHO: 

Jay W. Walker, Reclaim Pride Coalition

Jason Rosenberg, Community health advocate

Qween Jean, Black Trans Liberation 

Isabelle Leyva, New York Civil Liberties Union

Jose LaSalle, COPWATCH Patrol Unit

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 organizes the Queer Liberation March. 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, under the darkness 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 march without corporate funding; corporate floats; politicians’ grandstanding; or police control or involvement.

We are: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, Two-Spirit, Non-Binary, and Gender Non-Conforming! 

For Reclaim Pride Coalition’s complete statements of purpose:

RPC March - Why We March 

&

 RPC 2020 March - Demands & Safety Info

-----------------
Website: https://ReclaimPrideNYC.org

Facebook: @QueerMarch Instagram: @QueerMarch

Twitter: @QueerMarch TikTok: @QueerMarch

Donations:  https://reclaimpridenyc.org/donate

-----------------

RECLAIM PRIDE MEDIA ASSETS

<click the link above to browse images and video to use with attribution>