Organizers announced the second annual Guerrilla Pride will take place June 14 from 2-10 p.m. The event weaves queer-themed workshops, a community meal, live music and a radical art show into a fun and educational event for Southern California’s queer community. The event will take place at the Canvass for a Cause headquarters at 2139 First Ave. in Bankers Hill. It kicks off with workshop-style discussions from 2-6 p.m., followed by a community meal at 6:30 p.m. and ends with live music until 10 p.m.“I’m excited to be part of Guerrilla Pride because it creates a crucial space for critical dialogue in the struggle for change and liberation.” said Michael Galván.
Guerilla Pride’s mission statement describes the event as “… a radical alternative to mainstream Pride that celebrates queerness in every form and is opposed to the corporatization and militarization of our community”. Workshop sessions will explore often ignored and cutting edge topics including: “Queer People and the Prison Industrial Complex (PIC)”, “Queering Sex: Consent and Beyond”, “Sexism in the LGBT Community”, and “Undocuqueer Struggles: Immigration in the LGBT Community”, and will be held from 2 -6 p.m.
“Radical and inspirational art has served an important role in historical queer struggles, I’m very proud of the exhibition of radical and queer themed art we have put together” said Brian Baumgartner who is curating this year’s collection. The Guerrilla Pride Radical Art Collective Exhibition will run concurrently with rest of the program.
From 6-7:30 p.m., Guerrilla Pride hosts a no-cost vegan community meal, which will be followed by queer/trans-friendly live music. Three great local bands, The Social Animal, DivaCup, and Nile & The Delta will offer Queercore, Punk, and Rock sounds to close the event.
“We aim to hold a radically inclusive celebration of the diverse people who identify as queer; we are especially interested in holding up those of us who are left out of the narrow focus on marriage equality and DADT efforts of the wealthy gay orgs” said Sean Bohac, another event volunteer.
All are encouraged to attend who can abide by the Safe Space policy that sets ground rules to promote an event that celebrates the diversity of those in attendance by reducing prejudices and the insecurities they cause. Organizers are anticipating several hundred participants this year and encourage people to RSVP to the event on Facebook –https://www.facebook.com/events/1417644525165842/
