June 18, 2021

Sarah Jones, HollywoodLife

Supergirl superstar Nicole Maines says that she is missing the Los Angeles Pride Parade again this year due to COVID.  But, in this interview with HollywoodLife, she says, ““I will always celebrate Pride in my own way. Whether that’s public, whether that’s just in my apartment. I think the work we do is so important and so exhausting, and when we have an opportunity to celebrate, we have to take it. … I think moving forward, we’re seeing activism becoming more and more fundamental. It always has been, but I think more and more people are woken up to the importance of the work we do year round and so hopefully that will continue to be a major part of Pride because we have a lot of work to do. We are fighting these bills with everything we have and we need people to spread the word and to talk about this.”  Read full story here

President and chief executive officer of the National Urban League, Marc H. Morial, writes about another important piece of legislation – the federal Equality Act. In support of the bill, Morial recalls many of the Black LGBTQ advocates who have led the way, including civil rights icon Bayard Rustin,  activist-writer James Baldwin and #BlackLivesMatter co-founder Alicia Garza. “In 25 states, there are no explicit statewide laws protecting people from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in employment, housing and public accommodations.” Leaders like Rustin have shown us the relationship between struggles like Stonewall and the Montgomery Bus Boycott – and “the right essentially to be one’s self in every respect, … ” Read the full story

And this great short video from Alicia Garza on re-distributing power within our work places and our communities. 

The overall message from these Pride activists? Let’s get it done – for everyone.