Every wondered if Gay Pride could be sold off? Apparently so as Pittsburgh has proven.
The city is currently getting a lot of hate, rightfully so, for deciding to rename its Pride march after its biggest sponsor.
Earlier this year, the organization that’s been planning Pittsburgh’s Pride for the past nine years, called Delta Foundation, announced that this year’s parade would be renamed the “EQT Equality March.” This new name is “in honor” of the largest sponsor of the organization and event, Equitable Gas (EQT) which is a gas company from the area.
This is just wrong from the get go. Hopefully, the people at Delta Foundation have worried so much about how they are going to pay for the event that they’ve forgotten the real meaning of LGBT Pride in the first place, and not that they just don't care.
These events started off as riots and fights against the oppression of LGBTQ people. We celebrate today because so many people fought for our freedom to express ourselves.
While yes, Pride is now all glitz and glitter (and great for it), at is core is still the love and respect of those who’re fighting even today.
Naming the event after a corporation is an insult to all the people who came before us and all the people of today.
In addition, this gas company that now gets to be named for the event is questionable in terms of its support of the LGBTQ community.
In fact, EQT has openly supported Anti-LGBTQ legislators.
The company donated $10,000 to Republican state representative Bill Shuster, who was “disappointed” in the Supreme Court for rejecting DOMA. They also funded Congressmen Tim Murphy, a man who voted against keeping federal contractors responsible for any discrimination against LGBT employees, with $7,500.
Even worse is that this is not the first time that Delta Foundation has had problems come up. In 2015, they organized for Iggy Azalea to perform at the event. But, seeing as she’s said homophobic remarks, participants weren’t happy and threatened to boycott until she canceled.
If you live in Pittsburgh and want to help support organizations that really care about LGBTQ people, help Sisters PGH. They are having a protest march that will happen immediately after the EQT one. They’re calling it, “the People’s Pride.”
That’s far more suiting than “EQT Equality March.”
h/t: NewNowNext