Boston Pride x No Kings Recap
Photo via Mass 50501 Volunteer
On Saturday, June 14th, the people of Boston came together in a much needed day of defiant joy at a time when we need hope and Pride more than ever. It was also a day of tragedy for our nation, with fatal attacks on elected officials and an embarrassing display of narcissism by our President in Washington, DC, who threw himself a Soviet-style military parade on his birthday. But, even as we send our prayers and sympathies to Minnesota, even as we mourn our dead, we can never relinquish our joy. We can never give up our hope in the face of hate. Our LGBTQIA+ community is here to stay. And, as our transgender and immigrant communities are under attack around the nation, we stood up and fought back, with song and dance and love. The administration wants us to be scared—coming together in joy is resistance! That is what will save America.
Throughout the country, we the people gathered at over 2100 No Kings protests, including dozens of locations in Massachusetts alone. Final numbers are still rolling in, but reports claim between 5 million and 10 million Americans used their First Amendment rights to peacefully assemble in direct defiance of the unconstitutional acts of our federal administration. In Boston, we had a unique opportunity to combine Boston Pride with No Kings as we proclaimed both “No Kings, but Yaaaas Queen!” and “No Kings, but Drag Kings!” Pride has always been and always will be a protest, and this year it really felt like it!
It was awe-inspiring to march from Copley to Boston Common, leading a crowd of 1 million people in chants and songs that both uplifted the LGBTQIA+ community and inspired people to stand up and use their voices against injustice. People lined the streets with their signs, costumes, and flags showing all the different ways they are negatively affected by the heinous executive orders and unjust measures being taken by this administration. The LGBTQIA+ community exists within all communities and we share in the pain being inflicted on all people. Signs specifically highlighted the harm being done to our immigrants, the rolling back of education and scientific research, the pain of economic inflation and, of course, the attempt to erase our transgender, nonbinary, and queer siblings.
The diverse peoples of Massachusetts came together across cultural, racial, and economic divides to embrace peaceful unity in the face of tyranny, to uplift our LGBTQIA+ community above hateful rhetoric, and to speak in a single voice proclaiming that Americans reject the dictatorial aspirations of a would-be king. Together, we have the potential to shape the future of America into a nation where liberty and justice truly ring for all people. Where our government is truly of the people, by the people, for the people. Where the American Dream of economic security and happiness is truly achievable for all.
We must continue to use this energy to build momentum. Even as we celebrate the millions who took to the streets, we need to remember that it’s not enough to get 3.5 percent of the population in the streets just one time; change requires a significant portion of the American population actively engaged in fighting authoritarianism for a sustained period. We must also prepare to take economic actions that will be disruptive to the administration, even if they’ll be disruptive to our own lives too—and we have to start educating ourselves and others about how to rise to meet those challenges. While we will continue to protest and rally, we must also explore additional nonviolent methods. Join us at Mass 50501’s call cannons every Wednesday, and use our call scripts to put pressure on your local officials anytime. In the coming weeks, we at Mass 50501 will be launching additional ways across our platforms that you can help to truly put pressure on Congress to impeach, convict, and remove a President who has repeatedly violated his oath of office. It will take time. It will be hard. We’ll have to roll up our sleeves and relearn the kind of mass civil resistance that America has not seen since the Civil Rights era. We will put in the work to lead the way, teaching Massachusetts and the rest of America how to make change. We’re ready. Are you?
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