When the organizers of LA Pride announced this week that they would hold a march in solidarity with Black Lives Matter, many people celebrated — but others were skeptical, asking whether the organization would be working with police as they protest police brutality. Now, it appears as though that skepticism may have been well-founded.
Word has emerged that Christopher Street West (CSW), the organization that manages LA Pride, asked event organizer Jeff Consoletti to manage safety and logistics for the march. But shortly after the event’s announcement, activists and community members began questioning whether CSW was working with the Black community and Black Lives Matter to facilitate the march, and about the LAPD’s involvement in the protest.
Ashlee Marie Preston, a longtime community activist, said in a Twitter video that CSW had not reached out to her or any other leaders of the Black Lives Matters movement that she’s aware of.
Questions intensified after Consoletti posted an image on Instagram of a letter he’d sent to the LAPD on CSW’s behalf on June 2. The letter noted that the organization has a history of working alongside the police in Los Angeles in a “unified partnership with law enforcement.”
After a public outcry over the letter, a statement attributed to Consoletti shared that he would be stepping away from the march, a move activists praised as questions linger about the event’s origins and intentions.
Consoletti’s letter begins, “it is with great pride and greater humility I submit a special event permit application,” and goes on to note Signed solely by Consoletti, the letter is CCed to CSW Board President Estevan Montemayor; Executive Director Madonna Cacciatore; the CSW Board of Directors; Councilmembers Mitch O’Farrell and David Ryu; and ACLU of Southern California Executive Director Hector Villagra.
“Using a Black organization’s name without its permission or consent to collaborate not only undermines the work, but it dilutes the message and weakens the overall impact,” Preston said in a Twitter video.
She added that LA Pride “has been asked many times, even when I was on the board, to not have the sheriff or police present. … At a time when police brutality is at the center, that guarantee hasn’t been made.”
The letter sent on CSW’s behalf seems to contradict messages from CSW Operations Manager Dara Nai. Multiple Twitter users shared screenshots of emails from Nai stating, “We have no intention of asking LAPD, or Mayor Garcetti” to the march.
LA Paide and Consoletti did not respond to requests for comment from them. by the time of publication. But Dustin Smith, founder of the event and crisis communications firm Smith House Strategy, forwarded a statement on Consoletti’s behalf. According to that statement, CSW asked Consoletti to facilitate safety and security for the march.
Though the statement says that CSW assured Consoletti that they had the support of the Black queer community, “it has become clear that is not entirely the case. … Effective immediately, I am withdrawing my involvement with CSW’s event.”
The statement also acknowledges the “privileged, passive, and systemic issues” demonstrated by Consoletti’s letter, and thanks the community for the feedback provided.
Consoletti’s message to the LAPD on CSW’s behalf has now led some organizers to call for a boycott of the official LA Pride march, raising the possibility of an alternate grassroots event.
“If #LAPride wants to show✌?solidarity✌? w/Black folk—and Black folks want that—they can come to where Black folks live. Don’t invite Black folks into anti Black spaces,” wrote organizer Jasymne Cannick.
Alternative Pride events have grown in popularity in other cities, with attendees speaking out against involvement by corporations, police, and military contractors. In New York, the Reclaim Pride Coalition renamed their event to Queer Liberation March for Black Lives and Against Police Brutality. Organizers in Indianapolis announced that police would no longer have a role in Pride events.
