Pride London board resigns over racism within the organization
GAYLES.TV.- Racist abuses are the reason for the group resignation of the council of the London Pride. All members of the community advisory board of the Pride of London have resigned citing an alleged culture of harassment and a «hostile environment»For black volunteers who have accused them of racism.
rhammel afflick, director of communications for seven years in the group, resigned after denouncing that the group LGBT + had turned a blind eye to intolerance, while black volunteers have been ostracized. «Within leadership, there is an unfortunate reluctance to accept that the liberation of people LGBT + it must be accompanied by the fight against sexism, racism and other forms of unacceptable discrimination" has declared afflick.
"This reluctance is evident through a series of decisions made by the leadership of London Pride. These decisions are detrimental to all of our communities, but particularly to black people. LGBT +»Claimed the 26-year-old. The former director of communication and the highest ranking member of color within the organization recalled his experiences in the first person: «I have also personally witnessed leaders' insistence on ignoring black voices in our communities and among our own volunteers when they speak and speak. I cannot and will not tolerate the insistence of London Pride in finding reasons to look the other way«.
Black Lives Matter
In recent years, London Pride has made decisions that have caused great concern among underserved communities. Allow organizations like him Ministry of Interior and UKIP marching and having visibility at events despite their strained relations with ethnic minority Londoners was one of their big mistakes. Recently, the organization was criticized for not banning the Metropolitan Police participate in their parade.
«It is an inescapable truth that allowing any organization to participate in the parade provides an endorsement. Following the protests of Black Lives Matter and the death of George floyd, I found it painful and infuriating that Pride was willing to publicly commit to anti-racism, but to date has failed to evidence any meaningful action", He said.
In addition to the exodus of senior staff since early 2021, questions have also been raised about the volunteer selection process with allegations of cronyism leveled on board members by former team members.
White volunteers
A former volunteer declared to The Independent"I know that several teams weren't going through the official recruiting process in favor of hiring people directly; all the volunteers were white men. It's no secret that there are problems within London Pride as far as race is concerned. This is not new«.
A spokesperson for the Pride issued an apology in which he accepted “that we need to be in a place where we are focusing the marginalized voices of our communities in everything we do, and we are in the process of organizing listening sessions and creating safe spaces and peer groups for these misrepresented voicess. We look forward to creating a more inclusive culture and helping to give Black volunteers and volunteers of color the support they deserve.«.
Sources: The Guardian, Independent
Photographer: Getty Images, Dave Bird
