Taking Back Pride 2025: MN queers fight back

Minneapolis, MN – On June 28 Taking Back Pride (TBP) took to the streets ahead of the Twin Cities Pride (TC Pride) parade. The activists were demanding TC Pride cut ties with cops and with the corporations that profit from climate change, racism and the genocide in Palestine, and instead use its huge platform to stand against the massive wave of legal and physical attacks upon LGBTQ people, especially trans people.

TBP says TC Pride ignores the radical legacy of Pride and needs to continue fighting for LGBTQ liberation. Protesters want more than a rainbow State Fair that mainly appeals to corporate sponsors and conservative elements.

This year, TC Pride coordinated with the violent and homophobic Minneapolis Police Department and also hired two private security firms to try to prevent the Take Back Pride march. After meetings last year with TC Pride stating that they “respected” the protest, their security tried to block this year’s protest. They tried to add barricades in front of marchers, attempted to hold the barricades closed, and then drove golf carts at protesters to try to block and intimidate them.

Police hired by TC Pride dangerously grappled a motorcyclist between two of their vehicles leading to injury and damage to the bike. The security hired by TC Pride also harassed at least one bicycle marshal, damaging their bike as well. Several protesters were pushed, shoved and knocked down by security.

One security head for the firm Sequeerity had previously told TBP protest leadership she would, “ride behind you to keep you safe.” Instead, she rammed her motorcycle into a protester’s motorcycle from behind. She then joined in assaulting protesters trying to get on the parade route. Unstoppable, the protesters made their way into the street anyway, where the outrage caused by the security firms’ violence invigorated the crowd.

As in previous years, Taking Back Pride protesters stopped at the TC Pride parade’s grandstand. There they read off the names of trans people murdered during the last year and held a die-in and a moment of silence to honor them. Jae Yates of Twin Cities Coalition for Justice (TCC4J) announced to the crowd, “Hecklers will be punished with additional delay of the parade!” There were no hecklers.

Despite attempts to block them, Taking Back Pride marched the entire parade route, giving speeches and handing out pamphlets to the crowd along the way.

At the end of the parade route is a festival with hundreds of booths in Loring Park. Protesters stopped and occupied the space in front of the Salvation Army booth for over an hour. Several speakers made statements denouncing the Salvation Army’s history of homophobia and transphobia. They explained how Salvation Army policies and lobbying harm the LGBTQ community. Onlookers joined the protester’s chants enthusiastically. The Salvation Army response was to throw packages of Oreo cookies.

Protesters then marched to the Marathon Fuel booth to denounce the environmental damage that the oil giant causes. Activists called for a stop to the violence and oppression inflicted on Native American peoples when pipelines are built through their lands and communities. Marathon Fuel packed up their booth and left as protesters were approaching. Another victory for Taking Back Pride.

Several days after the TBP protest, Sequeerity made a social media post stating they were “really proud of how [their] team managed the incident”. It also read, Sequeerity is “owned and operated by queer and poc womxn,” with a stated goal to “create and maintain safe spaces for everyone, especially for the LGBTQIA+ community.”

The security firm falsely claimed in their social media post that they were just trying to keep vehicles off the route, that they didn’t hit anyone, and painted some TBP protesters as violent instigators. But Sequeerity failed to mention in the post how they blocked, assaulted and threatened TBP pedestrians and bicyclists.

Instead, Sequeerity suggested in the post a comparison between queer protesters and right-wing terrorists saying, “No one wanted another NOLA drive through, and there was a number of people in the parade that was listed on the murder manifesto.” This is irresponsible and dangerous rhetoric.

Sequeerity employees and TC Pride leaders know the organizers of Taking Back Pride and know that the group approaching the barriers was hosting a family and community-friendly demonstration. Giving examples of right-wing terrorism confuses people about who their enemies are, while simultaneously doing their dirty work for them.

The experience of protesters this year speaks to the need for community control of police through an all elected civilian police accountability commission (CPAC). TBP’s view is, “We keep our communities safe.”

At Taking Back Pride, the tactical team and marshals kept protesters and the community safe because they are part of the community and accountable. The private security is only accountable to TC Pride that hired them, and in turn the corporate sponsors such as 3M, Wells Fargo and US Bank.

Taking Back Pride will continue to fight to get cops and corporations out of Pride. Pride should be an event that honors the legacy and sacrifice of the queer activists who made such an event possible. TBP promises to bring the spirit of radical grassroots organization to Pride until their demands are met.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #LGBTQ #TBP #Pride

Source: https://fightbacknews.org/taking-back-pride-2025-mn-queers-fight-back?pk_campaign=rss-feed