Drive for Pride

The OC DSA LGBTQ+ Committee needs your help to raise funds to set up a booth for Orange County Pride!

Pride, which began as an event celebrating LGBTQ+ peoples and their struggle for liberation and equality, has now unfortunately become a rather watered down corporate event. What once was a very political revolutionary event of self-affirmation in the community has now become so pinkwashed that it’s difficult to imagine the spirit that drove the creation of the first Pride march. Not only this, but the inclusion of police in many Pride celebrations leaves many unsafe to even partake in these celebrations.

The people in LGBTQ+ Committee of the OC DSA, like many of you, understand this very well. That is why, in an attempt to bring some of that spirit back to Pride, we are asking for you to take us to Pride.

WHO WE ARE:

We are a working group within the Orange County chapter Democratic Socialists of America. We are made up of multiple members of different intersections of the LGBTQ+ community, and come from multiple leftist tendencies. We all work together to bring an awareness of LGBTQ+ issues with a special focus on our collective class struggle.

WHY GO TO PRIDE:

We believe that going to Pride, as stated before, will allow us to remind people what Pride is actually about, and who it’s meant to benefit. Pride is not for corporations or police, but for the people—for OUR people, and OUR community and allies. We believe the best way of doing this is by having an official leftist political presence within the event. We hope that by being able to be involved and getting information and materials out there that we will be able to expand our reach to more people, and remind them why we celebrate Pride in the first place.

HOW WILL THESE FUNDS BE USED:

The funds will be used to 1) get us a booth at Pride, and 2) pay for supplies and materials we will distribute at Pride. Primarily, we need $200 to get a booth. We have set a goal of $600 as a rough estimate for the cost of materials and resources, but anything we don’t use will be donated to a LGBTQ+ oriented charity or organization, either locally based or otherwise.

Please help your LGBTQ+ comrades get a chance to provide a much needed and overdo perspective to their local Pride!