Boston Pride Returns After Controversy And COVID Forced A 3-Year Halt

BOSTON, MA — After Boston Pride's 2020 and 2021 celebrations were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2022 events were scrapped after Boston Pride dissolved due to diversity complaints, a new organizer, Boston Pride for the People, vowed to "find a way forward" for 2023.

With its big return this month, Boston Pride will once more cover the city in a sea of rainbow with block parties, a parade and festival on June 10 on Boston Common and at City Hall Plaza.

Adrianna Boulin, President of Boston Pride for the People, told Patch in a phone interview that after the former Boston Pride organizer went inactive, individuals from the LGBTQ community came together and formed the initiative in hopes of exploring "what a Pride for everyone looks like."

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The initiative, which Boulin said is made up of members of the community and employees at organizations that reach and serve members of the LGBTQ-plus community, reached out to the city to share their hopes of bringing Boston Pride celebrations back.

"They have been really open and receptive to community members," Boulin said. "Particularly with the development of the Office of LGBTQ Advancement. From the beginning, we've been in touch with them to let them know this is something that we'd like to do, and it took a lot of organizing."

The announcement that Boston Pride was dissolving came after years of growing tension with other Boston-based LGBTQ+ community leaders and organizations, including allegations of racism and transphobia from people who worked as volunteers for Boston Pride.

According to Boston Pride for the People, 80 percent of Boston Pride’s volunteer workforce resigned in June 2020 after the Pride Board removed “#blacklivesmatter” and rewrote a statement written by the communications team that condemned unjust police violence. The organization added that Boston Pride posted the statement without consulting the Chair of Black Pride or the communications team.

The resigned volunteer workforce, along with LGBTQ community leaders of color, opted to boycott Boston Pride and demanded the current Pride Board step down. They proposed a transition plan to diversify the board and rewrite the bylaws to include power sharing, checks and balances, and transparency, though the board refused, according to Boston Pride for the People.

In July 2021, Boston Pride, which had been around for decades, announced that it was dissolving.

"It was clear to us that our community needs and wants change without the involvement of the Boston Pride Committee," the organization wrote, in part, on its website. "We heard the concerns of the QTBIPOC community and others. We cared too much to stand in the way."

This year, Pride for the People wanted to organize the most inclusive Pride celebration possible.

"We're making sure that everyone is at the table and we're walking humbly to always welcome other people to the table," Boulin said. "We have a mission that specifically names educating people on experiences that Black, indigenous people, and all people of color experience. And we're ensuring that our history is commemorated."

Boulin added that Boston Pride for the People is "leading with inclusion and ensuring that we constantly have a growth and humble mindset."

This inclusion also extends to people of all ages and abilities.

"Boston Common has spaces more for youth and families, and our City Hall areas are more for adults," Boulin said. There will also be quiet spaces, and BP4TP worked to ensure that the parade and festival and accessible.

As Boulin said in a news release earlier this year, “It’s time for a unified Pride for everyone to enjoy."

“The last time we came together, there was a different President, a different Governor, a different Mayor," she added. "The pandemic kept us apart for a long time. Now, all of us are eager to reconnect, embrace each other as a community, and most importantly have fun.”

Envisioning the day of the parade, Boulin says that one word comes to mind: joy.

"Affirmed is another word that comes up for me," Boulin said. "And safe. Joy, affirmed, and safe. Most importantly, I want people to experience Pride in the way that they like to experience Pride. The aim is to ensure that Pride can represent what the word means for each individual person in our community as much as possible."

And the celebration does not have to end at the conclusion of the month.

"There are so many great things that happen throughout the year in our community, from our community partners, leaders in other organizations," Boulin said. "So Boston Pride is gonna amplify that. That is our goal: to amplify the great work that already happens around our city."