Statement Concerning The Recent Uprising In The Wake Of George Floyd's Death From Pride Portland's Queer People of Color Advisory Board On Behalf Of Pride Portland!

Dear Community,

As we enter Pride Month, we want to check-in with our community. Like many of you, we are also tired and feeling exhaustion during these times. We’re thrilled that so many of you have found the energy to protest, educate, and be exemplary of what a rebellion can look like. By the same measure, we are very much in support of those in our community who have taken this time to focus on their mental health and do what is needed for them to continue to get through the day-to-day. We’re going through a lot right now - Your safety and self-preservation comes before all.

We want to affirm our Black and Indigenous People of Color friends and family that our color remains beautiful, valid, and intact despite the current events. We are in solidarity with those protesting the injustice that Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Abery, Tony McDade, Nina Pop, George Floyd, and so many others before have received.

And for specifically our Brown and Indigenous family, we see your plights as well, and we thank you for joining our Black kin in solidarity. We shoutout to those in Tokyo who have protested the murders. We see our distant family in London reinvigorating their Black Lives Matter movements. We honor our Indigenous Aboriginal folks in Perth as well. We see you and we thank you.

Let us remind ourselves that Pride is about celebrating our difference and true selves, and like what’s happening now, came out of the tears, anger, and revolutionizing from our Queer/Trans People of Color predecessors. You’re just as much as a part of history now, and that’s a magical thing.

In the midst of everything, we’ll be transparent: We’re not sure what happens next. We’re riding these waves of emotions and processing everything just as much as you. But we’re here for you. We’re here with you.

In Solidarity,

Pride Portland’s Queer People of Color Advisory Board On Behalf of Pride Portland!