Those with opposing views will clash with each other and someone will throw the inevitable first punch…
Organizers of the annual gay pride celebration in Los Angeles have announced that the regularly scheduled gay pride parade will be replaced with an anti-Trump protest this year. The group plans to gather participants and march through West Hollywood to protest the President. According to organizers, construction has significantly limited the space for their parade this year when compared to previous ones; however, they refused to move the celebration to another area due to the amount of money the parade brings to local businesses.
Gay pride parades across the United States are usually celebrations where those in the LGBT community can come together and be proud of who they are. I guess since politics has infiltrated just about every facet of American life in the form of some type of protest, why not the gay pride parade? The problem is that not every gay person is against President Trump. Not every gay person cares to be involved in politics or to be a part of the “Resist” movement. Many people attend the celebrations purely to socialize and surround themselves with the gay community. Some show up just out of support to the community.
There are also no performers booked for their festival this year, whereas last year there was a famous lineup. It appears that the whole thing is rather unorganized to begin with and they decided to just throw a political statement on it and hire a DJ.
This type of demonstration will have safety concerns if it follows the trend lately in California. Protests in the Golden State have been violent ever since the election. Most recently, people were assaulted in Berkeley while participating in a rally in support of President Trump. These protests often turn into rioting when politics are involved. Those with opposing views often clash with protesters and someone will throw the inevitable first punch.
I think it’s a bad idea turning something that is meant to display pride into a negative political statement. There are so many ways to show support for communities and causes without “resisting.” I feel like some of these groups will only end up putting fear into others who are uninformed about politics or what President Trump’s actual policies are. The social media trends seem to be what stand out most to people these days. They’ve replaced actual information with hyperbole and conjecture.
The President has not stripped any citizens of their rights. Searching for facts might just help people realize that things aren’t as bad as canceling a celebration to protest something that hasn’t happened.
Angelina Newsom is an OpsLens Contributor and U.S. Army Veteran. She has ten years experience in the military, including a deployment to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. She studies Criminal Justice and is still active within the military community.
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