Minneapolis, MN – June 28 marked the Taking Back Pride Coalition’s tenth annual protest march that disrupted the Twin Cities Pride Parade in downtown Minneapolis.
Despite a heavy morning downpour that delayed both the march and parade, community members took to the streets with banners reading “Delta deports neighbors” and “Dump Trump donors,” inviting the crowds lined up awaiting the corporate-sponsored festivities to join the protest march into Loring Park.
Many parade-goers were receptive to the messaging and chants, with some heeding the call and stepping out into the street to march alongside protesters, and many others joining in during chants of “No cops, no KKK, no racist Pride today!”
Initiated by the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice (TCC4J) in 2017, the Taking Back Pride Coalition (TBP) has organized a protest march for the past ten years to demand that Twin Cities Pride oust police and big corporations from the state’s largest free Pride festival, which they see as antithetical to Pride’s origins in the Stonewall Uprising of 1969.
The contradiction between sponsoring a Pride event and donating to Trump and other right-wing politicians who have been increasingly targeting the rights of queer and trans people across the country is not lost on the organizers of this year’s march. TBP co-chair and member of TCC4J Jae Yates called out sponsors of this year’s event like Delta Airlines, Uber, JP Morgan Chase, and others that have donated to Trump and other right-wing politicians, stating, “We deserve a Pride that is free from corporations that profit off of us for June, and then donate to Trump’s campaign the rest of the year.”
The protest marched along much of the planned route for the Pride Parade, with multiple stops where speakers like Khalani Matus of the Climate Justice Committee highlighted for the audience why TBP marches against sponsorship from corporations like 3M every year.
Matus stated, “There is no Pride or Stonewall spirit in companies like 3M who poison our water with ‘forever chemicals’ and fund Republican politicians who are trying to take away our humanity,” referencing 3M’s donations to right-wing politicians and PFAS chemical waste mismanagement. In 2018, the state of Minnesota settled a lawsuit with the company for $850 million for contaminating drinking water and natural resources in the southeast metro area of the Twin Cities.
Other speakers along the march route featured members of organizations from the student organizing to labor solidarity, a song led by Singing Resistance, poetry by Azariah Baker, and words from sex worker activist Mona Notte, who reminded the crowd that Pride itself would not exist without the Black and brown trans folk who resisted police violence at Stonewall.
After the last set of speakers, protesters split into groups to conduct demonstrations in front of two of the booths located inside Loring Park, 3M and U.S. Bank. However, organizers learned that the 3M tablers had left their booth, possibly to avoid protesters. Organizers proceeded to escort a portion of the marchers to the Power to the People Stage to await the remaining demonstrators, who continued on to U.S. Bank.
At the U.S. Bank booth, organizers and supporters gathered in front of the table on either side of the walkway, with speakers on megaphones announcing to passersby why corporations like big banks should not be allowed at Pride festivals.
Festivalgoers were generally receptive to the messaging, and chants of “No pride in ecocide!” and “No pride in genocide” sounded above the music and revelry. A speech written by Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) executive director Meredith Aby was read by Yates, stating that U.S. Bank had no place at Pride due to its financing of the fossil fuel industry and revolving credit for defense companies. “When your ‘customers’ facilitate war crimes with their fighter jets, missile systems, tanks and naval vessels then you need to be called out for who you do business with,” Aby wrote. “Decorating your bank with rainbows can’t clean up the blood on U.S. Bank’s hands.”
The action concluded with an invitation from Yates for anyone who resonated with TBP’s message to join the coalition next summer or one of the many groups that took part in organizing this year’s action, as many work year-round across a variety of struggles.
This year’s coalition included Twin Cities Coalition for Justice (TCC4J), Minnesota Abortion Action Committee (MNAAC), Minnesota Anti-War Committee (AWC), Bikers Riding Against Police Brutality (BRAPB),Fury Du Nord, Climate Justice Committee (CJC), MN 50501, Communities Against Transphobia (CAT), Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Minnesota Workers United (MWU), Community Aid Network Minnesota (CANMN), Women Against Military Madness (WAMM), Sunrise Twin Cities (SMTC), Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), Justice Frontline Aid (JFA), Twin Cities Democratic Socialists of America (TCDSA), Singing Resistance, Healthcare Workers for Palestine (HCW4P), and individuals passionate about queer and trans liberation.
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