We were surprised, as most in the community were, to read the statement late Friday from the Boston Pride board announcing that they were dissolving the Boston Pride organization.

It is disappointing to see the board make the choice to close down Boston Pride rather than work with BIPOC transgender community leaders, former Pride volunteers, and others to make room for new leadership and needed transformation within the organization. We call on the Boston Pride board to be transparent in their plans for dissolving the organization and hope they will do so in a way that benefits the community and lays the groundwork for something new to flourish.

There have long been calls from the community for needed changes in leadership and for Boston Pride to be more inclusive of Black, other POC, and transgender community members. Pride 4 the People, Trans Resistance MA, the Boston Dyke March and others have been leading these calls and efforts for change over the past year and beyond, and we look to their direction for next steps in this process now.

From its beginnings Pride has been about protest, about liberation, and about community. How that is manifested in our annual Pride celebrations has evolved and changed over time. We now have a great opportunity and responsibility in our Greater Boston and New England LGBTQIA community to have honest conversations with one another and to ensure the next transformation of what Pride can be is truly inclusive, celebratory and furthering of liberation for all.