The San Diego Pride Military Department will not lead the Pride Parade this year, for the first time since 2011 when local active-duty service members and veterans became the first such contingent in the nation to march.
According to department chair Lauren Henson, multiple factors contributed to this decision, most importantly the safety of the military participants. Marine Corps and National Guard being associated with immigration enforcement in Los Angeles, the transgender military ban targeting participants and backlash to festival headliner Kehlani played into concern about what could go wrong.
Beyond safety, the department had not received enough support from the Pride office, publicly or privately, as these situations developed, according to two volunteers in the department.
The department was upset by Pride not issuing any statements regarding the ban and the U.S. Supreme Court decision, which in previous similar situations they partnered with the department to make.
“Pride has abdicated its leadership role as an advocacy group … the silence is problematic,” said Clay Kilpatrick, who chaired the military department for a decade and continues to volunteer.
Service members are scared, Henson said. Transgender military members are the first target of the administration, but may not be the last. The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy barring qualified LGBTQ+ people from the military was repealed by Congress in 2010 but could be reinstated.
It ended up being The LGBT Center that offered resources to transgender service members in the wake of President Trump’s ban.
“A lot of organizations within Pride have had to leave and find a home in other places where they could get support. The military department does not want to leave Pride. We want to work with Pride. We want Pride to be successful,” said Kilpatrick, who led the department before Henson’s tenure. “However, there are some serious leadership challenges to be addressed and rectified … The platitudes don’t do it.”
San Diego Pride has had a fraught year, with leadership turnover plus the controversy over Kehlani performing.
Past board members and staff, including Kilpatrick, wrote an open letter questioning the board leadership amid national anti-LGBTQ+ attacks.
In addition to the trans military ban, a major concern of LGBTQ+ service members is the ordered name change for the USNS Harvey Milk, according to Henson. She was at a press conference of local LGBTQ+ leaders opposing the change.
Notably absent? Pride staff and board members.
“There’s a feeling that the military department … was just being used as a shield,” Kilpatrick said. “Being used to prop up poor leadership decisions is not something that the military department should be used as.”
Jewish organizations, Mayor Todd Gloria and UC San Diego will not be part of the festival. The military contingent is the first group to drop out of the parade.
As far as Pride choosing to move forward with the concert, Kilpatrick said, “it’s an unfortunate decision, but ultimately, it was the impact of that, which is the safety concerns.”
Kilpatrick decried the lack of administrative support and timely communication for the military department from Pride, something Henson echoed.
“The leadership has failed them and put the staff in a position where they’re burning out … and the volunteers, the rest of the community aren’t getting any of the support they need … This is truly starting from the top down,” she said.
The decision to withdraw had been debated for months in the department, with marching in the first place a hard-won right no one wanted to give up.
To Kilpatrick, as San Diego’s largest single-day civic event, the Pride Parade was a way for the military town’s community to show support to all service members, not just straight white men in the military.
“The visibility and support that we got was critical,” Kilpatrick said. He wants more support from the Pride organization and hopes the decision not to march serves as a wake-up call.
Pride and the military department are set to issue a joint statement. The department also plans to release an open letter detailing the decision.
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