the Trump administration rolled back health care protections for people who are transgender, so now doctors and health care facilities can legally discriminate against our transgender
brothers and sisters. This is not acceptable. We need to ensure that our elected officials work to protect all people of color and LGBTQ people from all
discrimination. We all need to be engaged in the upcoming presidential election. This is not the time to sit on the sidelines. We all need to work together to support Black Lives Matter
because black lives do matter and this includes black trans lives. Let us all do our part, as there is much work to do before we are all truly equal.
NEWS & COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS
Letter from Former Board Members of Pride New Orleans June 13, 2020 Dear LGBTQ+ Community of New Orleans, As former board members of Pride New Orleans, we would like to publicly apologize for the Facebook post made on June 6th. We fully endorse Black Lives Matter and we know that Pride is political. Many of us posted on our personal and business social media pages sharing our outrage regarding social injustice and police brutality in full support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Pride New Orleans should have as well. We also recognize that posts aren’t enough. Many of us have been individually active within the community and marching in the streets with our brothers and sisters of color. Sadly, the organization we were involved with was not.
Chris Leonard, former Executive President of New Orleans Pride, published the Facebook post without consent from the Board, asking the community how they were celebrating Pride at home this year but stating, in the last sentence, “absolutely no politics allowed.’ After a considerable backlash from the community, Leonard took the post down as well as the Pride New Orleans Facebook page. Later, it was reactivated. On Sunday, June 7th, a Board meeting was scheduled for Tuesday, June 9th. The meeting was called to discuss Leonard’s actions, how we wanted to respond to the community, and how the Board would like to move forward in a different direction--highlighting the need for diversity; advocating for activism; ensuring we were all aligned with the Black Lives Matter
movement; and that, moving forward, we would be political, within the rules of being a 501(c)(3). On Tuesday, June 9th, Leonard publicly resigned via his personal Facebook page, after sharing with potential performers for Pride and other third parties involved with the organization, again without consulting or communicating with the Board. Leonard did not attend the Board meeting later that evening to answer for his actions. The current Board asked for full transparency of the organization’s bank records and to dissolve the Executive Board. We asked for Leonard to be removed from all social media. We also asked Louisiana’s Secretary of State to remove him as Pride New Orleans’ Executive President of the Board. Because of the incidents above, the undersigned Board Members have
decided to resign and have asked for the current Executive Board to dissolve. We look forward to seeing a new, diverse, and transparent organization in the future, totally separate from the Executive Board under which we had served. We hope that the LGBTQ+ community can unify and come back together in the future, stronger than ever, to celebrate all of our unique qualities. We are asking that any remaining funds be donated to The New Orleans Workers’ Center For Racial Justice, GLSEN and The Trevor Project. Sincerely, Michael Musa, Ryan Tardino, Sarah Manowitz, Tracey Deroche and Andrea Halstead
A Statement from CrescentCare on Black Lives Matter The Leadership and Board of Trustees of CrescentCare strongly denounce the recent murders of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and so many before them who died at the hands of racial injustice. CrescentCare is a culturally humble health care facility that welcomes all in the community; however, we want to make a strong statement to the New Orleans community (and communities across America) that Black Lives Matter to us. As an organization, CrescentCare commits to a welcoming, safe and respectful environment for the Black community. CrescentCare will continue to fight
for equality across the spectrum, but we focus urgently and strategically on protecting Black lives at CrescentCare. CrescentCare supports protesters who are exercising their freedom of speech and expressing their constitutional right to identify and reject injustices. CrescentCare recognizes that we continue to look inward and deal with racial inequality. We need to celebrate our successes, and own and make right our failures. CrescentCare is committed to training all staff to become more culturally humble and understanding so that we can better serve our patients, the community and each other.
H N S A R C A E RA T X E
CrescentCare recognizes the trauma caused by systemic racism, police brutality and racial injustice. These factors make this a public health issue that we will continue to address to improve health outcomes in the Black community. CrescentCare acknowledges that we cannot make right all the wrongdoings nor can we fix or change hundreds of years of oppression. What we can do is commit to doing our part to respect the race, culture, and rights of all, particularly at this moment, in the Black community. We see you. We hear you. And we will fight and stand with you against racial injustice.
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6 · The Official Gay Magazine of the Gulf South™: www.AmbushMag.com · June 16 – 29, 2020 · Official Southern Decadence Guide™ · www.SouthernDecadence.com
