International LGBTQIA+ Organisations Call For World Pride Boycott

The African Human Rights Coalition is the latest international organisation to call for a boycott of World Pride in response to the “Hitleresque” Trump government.

World Pride is scheduled to take place in Washington DC between 17 May and 8 June, promising to feature a “vibrant and innovative slate of events and cultural programs”.

In a press release on 15 March, the AHRC warned LGBTQIA+ Africans and queer people worldwide to refrain from attending for their safety, as the United States is now governed by an “antagonistic fascist regime which presents distinct dangers to foreign LGBTQI+ attendees.”

The group provides humanitarian advocacy services and resources to LGBTQIA+ people forcibly displaced, refugees and asylum seekers, in and from African countries.

The group also urged World Pride organisers and parent company InterPride to consider withdrawing the event from the United States, and condemn the “current human rights infractions, and the decimation of democracy, trans rights and the general attack on LGBTQI+ communities, in the US and around the world.”

“This is not business as usual and not a time for celebration but rather the time for resistance,” the AHRC said.

“The U.S.A. is no longer a free Democratic country that WorldPride signed up for. The United States under Trump-Musk-Vance is adopting anti-LGBTQI+, white supremacist, anti-women, racist, xenophobic, Islamophobic, and antisemitic policies, all fascist principles, and adding to this, by the hour.”

“People across the globe boycotted conferences and sports event held in South Africa to protest Apartheid. Holding a LGBTQI+ event at a time when LGBTQI+ people are a specific target of the fascist Trump administration, has a similar stench.”

Not the first group to raise boycott

In February, Eagle Canada, one of Canada’s largest LGBTQIA+ advocacy organisations, announced that none of its members would be attending any events in the US, including World Pride, due to Trump’s policies.

“This decision is foremost based on the need to safeguard our trans and nonbinary staff who would face questionable treatment at land and aviation borders to attend such convenings, and to stand in solidarity with global colleagues who are experiencing similar fear around entry to the U.S.,” the statement said.

“It is also founded in the unique situation that has been thrust on Canadians (and citizens of other countries) regarding economic warfare and threats to our national sovereignty.”

InterPride, which is a World Pride organiser itself, has also issued a travel advisory for transgender and nonbinary people who want to travel to Washington for the event.

“Due to an executive order issued by the U.S. president on Jan. 20, all travelers must select either ‘male’ or ‘female’ when applying for entry or visas. The gender listed at birth will be considered valid,” the group said on Facebook.

“If your passport has ‘X’ as a gender marker or differs from your birth-assigned gender, we strongly recommend contacting the U.S. diplomatic mission before traveling to confirm entry requirements.”

InterPride said they would be releasing a guide for travellers in the coming months.