Since our announcement last week, we have been carefully listening to the community’s response. What we have heard is that our organisation has repeatedly failed to deliver a Pride that fully reflects our city’s LGBTQ+ community.
We completely agree.
As relatively new board members, with some only joining in the midst of last year’s event planning, it is what we have also observed as we have taken up our roles.
It is another reason we have stopped this year to take a breath.
The reasons behind the decision to cancel our two events have been complex and myriad; connected to funding, timescales and the capacity of our team of now three volunteer directors.
But also considered was fully understanding what the community wants from Pride.
Before we next deliver our events, we need to ensure they are community-led and better serve our diverse needs. We can only do that by rebuilding our relationships.
For those calling for us to close, to step away, we get it. However, we still have services we deliver, and resources, connections and influence that we know can help support LGBTQ+ people in the city region. We don’t want to lose that because we know that – used correctly – it is vital.
That’s why our next action after our announcement was to speak to other organisations – including Sahir who have stepped up to mobilise and facilitate the community – to see how we could use what resources we do have available this year to help the community-led response however we can.
We are grateful for those organisations who we have spoken to for hearing our position, understanding our decision and inviting us back to the conversation.
Let’s be clear – we fully understand the community’s anger and frustration concerning our involvement. We understand the lack of trust.
We want you to know that new leadership is in place in the organisation which values community collaboration, open dialogue and wants our future Pride events to be community-led.
It is our job to rebuild that trust through clear communication, transparency and actions – starting now. As such, we have registered to attend Sahir’s events next week to be part of discussions.
We hope that, in coming weeks, we can reintroduce the organisation with a very different vision for the future.
We don’t expect this to be easy, but we are willing to put in the work.
Our email addresses are below for if you would like to arrange to speak to us directly. We are also currently seeking new trustees to help us shape the future of the organisation, so please do reach out to us if this is of interest to you.
With Pride & Solidarity
Amanda, Nikki and Matt
LCR Pride Foundation Board of Directors
