Eugene Pride Joins with Black Unity to March for Black Trans Lives on Saturday, August 8, 2020 in lieu of Pride in the Park Festival The March Will Begin at Noon at the Federal Courthouse and End at Kiwanis/Skinner Butte Park
(Eugene, OR) Black Unity, the organizers of the Eugene/Springfield area’s nightly Black Lives Matter protest, and the Eugene Pride Day Equality Project, the non-profit organization that produces Eugene’s annual Pride in the Park Festival, are joining together to rally and march for Black trans lives and to highlight the intersections between the Black community and the LGBTQIA+ community. The march will begin outside of the Federal Courthouse in downtown Eugene at 12:00 PM on Saturday, August 8 and end at Kiwanis Park at the west end of Skinner Butte Park. Members of Black Unity and Eugene Pride will host a joint media availability at 1:00 PM on Saturday, August 1st, in front of the Federal Courthouse.
Rallies preceding the march and after its conclusion will feature speakers from TransPonder, the HIV Alliance, Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon, Black Unity, Senator James Manning, Councilor Greg Evans, and others. The march will honor the trans Black women and other women of Color who started the movement for gay rights and trans liberation at Stonewall, 51 years ago. All attendees should wear a mask and practice physical distancing to the extent possible. (For more information regarding the COVID-19 protocols and procedures, please visit our FAQ page.
The Black community is part of the LGBTQIA+ community and vice versa. Individuals in both communities are targeted for violence for being who they are, face barriers in housing, healthcare, and education, and face higher rates of HIV infection. At least 21 trangender individuals have been murdered this year, including Nina Pop, Monica Diamond, Riah Milton, Tony McDade and others. The police continue to murder Black people throughout the country, including George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Rayshard Brooks, Elijah McClain, and countless others before them. The march will serve as an opportunity to form stronger community ties and mutual aid networks between the area’s Black and LGBTQIA+ communities. We stand in solidarity together to condem the continued murder to Black people and trans individuals.
The Eugene/Springfield Pride in the Park Festival is held each year on the second Saturday in August at Alton Baker Park. This year would have marked the festival’s 29th year, but the festival was cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. In addition to celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community, the Festival raises money for youth scholarships for community members who are attending college that are members of the queer community or children of LGBTQIA+ individuals. Eugene Pride is committed to centering BIPOC voices in all future festivals and is working to increase BIPOC participation on its board of directors.
For more information, please contact: Eugene Pride: Bill Sullivan – Board President
Marlie Heberling – Marketing Coordinator Black Unity: Claire Reyna