Local
Gay, lesbian, trans, queer people including drag queens shut down a major street downtown, disrupt traffic in the middle of the day on Friday, June 15 to protest Vice President Mike Pence – and what do the Columbus Police do? Let them.
Scores of protestors went inside the Renaissance Hotel during Pence’s speech, not to discuss tax policy, but to heckle him, not allowing him to speak for the first four minutes of his event. What do the Columbus Police do? Quietly escort them out one by one without arrests.
A handful of black, gay, lesbian, trans, queer people stand for a moment of silence for 40 seconds in the road at the end of last year’s Pride Parade, without disrupting the flow of the floats and marchers, to protest murders of trans people nationwide and police brutality against black people. What do the Columbus Police do? Viciously attack them with bikes, throw them on the ground, mace them, brutally arrest them, and charge them with multiple misdemeanors and one with a felony.
What’s the difference?
Yesterday, June 14, 2018, Vice President Mike Pence came to Columbus, ironically during Gay Pride week. LGBTQ groups protested his visit, hosting DJs and drag queens in a dance party to make the notorious homophobic uncomfortable.
The event, as reported on CNN, went this way: "Crowds converged on a small stretch of Gay Street -- you read that right -- outside the hotel where Pence was speaking to a separate group about tax reform. Videos posted to social media showed crowd members raising rainbow flags and dancing to loud music. They were celebrating the kickoff of Columbus' Pride Festival, but organizers also wanted to send a message to the vice president."
Pence could barely get a word out in his speech to a couple of hundred supporters at the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Columbus when protestors converged on the event shouting loudly about ICE raids and family separation. Pence was repeatedly heckled while he touted tax reform, attacked Ohio Democratic Senator Shsrrod Brown, and announced his support for candidate Troy Balderson, running for Republican Congressman Pat Tiberi's seat in the 12th district.
Saturday, June 16, 11am-7pm
Mayme Moore Park, 867 Mt. Vernon Ave.
Join us for a day-long festival centering on QTIPOC and on those at the intersections of oppression. Our pride is taking no corporate sponsorship and police are not invited. The Columbus Community Pride Festival will feature performances and visual art by queer and trans artists of color, a community resource fair, outdoor activities for children (and the young at heart), POC-owned food trucks, and much more! Join us for a day of celebration, creativity, and joy — and help grow the promise of liberation for QTIPOC in Central Ohio and beyond!! Visual ASL Interpreters will be provided for all Community Pride events. Please contact the interpreter coordinators at cbuscommunityprideinterpreters@gmail.com to request close vision or tactile interpreters for all Community Pride events.
Stay tuned for announcements of performance and workshop lineups, food trucks, vendors, and community resources.
Families in Columbus Ohio, along with their children, came together and took to the streets on Thursday, June 14th from 5-7pm EST. They came together at Goodale Park, to talk about and protest for the end of family separation. The protest and rally was in response to the “Military-Style” ICE raid that took place June 5th in Sandusky Ohio, on workers at Corso’s Garden Center.
Before the protest began, people listened to a very diverse group of speakers, from many different walks of life, as they shared their perspectives on the issue. These were people who were working day and night to support this cause and what had happened to the families of Sandusky Ohio.
Friday, June 15, 2-5pm
Outside the Renaissance Hotel downtown, 50th N. Third St.
Mike Pence is coming to Columbus June 15, the first day of Pride! Help welcome him with a Big LGBTQ Dance Party!
Thursday, June 14, 5-7pm
Goodale Park, 101 Buttles Ave.
March and Rally for justice in support of immigrant children and the ongoing separation of children from families by ICE, Border Control, and the Trump Administration.
Take a stand to uplift the voices of those who cannot do so for themselves. The March for Stolen Children is a peaceful event in coordination with solidarity rallies and marches across the country.
We must ensure the safety of our children if not anything else!
The March To #EndFamilySeparation will be held on June 14th, 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. **Location details coming soon!
#FamiliesBelongTogether
Tuesday, June 12, 2018, 6:00 PM Open meeting of the Central Committee, 7:00 PM Public meeting with guest speaker
Guest Speaker: Brett Joseph, Green Party candidate for Ohio lieutenant governor
Brett will discuss Green Party key talking points related to economic revitalization and sustainability. He’ll address how the seemingly favorable jobs report is misleading and doesn’t tell the whole story. He will talk about how to present the Green Party message of unity around common values while also offering a powerful and transformative challenge to the dysfunctional status quo.
Northwood Building, 2231 N. High St., Room 100
Parking available behind the building in “R” spaces.
fcgreenparty@gmail.com
Donate to the Franklin County Green Party!
While crossing High Street at Graceland Boulevard in Clintonville the other day, I noticed a bumper sticker stuck to one of the light poles. It read “Fluoride: There is poison in the tap water” with a link to the ultra-conservative, white supremacist site InfoWars.
Though I know it’s nearly impossible to have political ubiquity in a neighborhood as large as Clintonville, one doesn’t expect to see InfoWars stickers peppering a neighborhood that probably went overwhelmingly to Hillary in the last presidential election. It’s much more common to see yard signs with slogans like “hate has no home here” and “no matter where you are from, we’re glad you’re our neighbor” in six different languages. While the anti-fluoride sticker is among the more benign of InfoWars’ stances, it’s still jarring to see.
I thought about what a thing like that said about my neighborhood and how someone who’s perhaps not versed in media literacy might see it and decide to check out the website. And how the internet is full of rabbit holes for one to fall down.
Drink Water? Breathe air? Depend on safe soil? Then this urgent message is for you.
Central Ohioans have less than a month to protect our water, air and soil from the fracking waste passing through our watershed. According to industry spokespersons, this “brine” poses little danger to those of us living downstream.
Citing state-of-the-art technology of its injection wells, they boast of their ability to direct millions of gallons of the toxic and radioactive waste safely through our watershed to a final resting place miles underground. Common sense argues that over time injections wells leak and liquids migrate. It also recognizes that the massive volume of Ohio’s fracking waste cannot be safely disposed of anywhere, and certainly not in our watershed, our city’s most precious resource upon which we depend for our very survival.
Monday, June 11, 6-8pm, The Vanderelli Room, 218 McDowell St.
Pride started as a riot — and Marsha P. Johnson, legendary Black trans activist and elder, was there to see it through. Marsha worked throughout her life to protect and support transgender youth and sex workers, building S.T.A.R. [Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries] to serve and house her community. She wasn’t about white-washed and exclusive gay “movements” — and neither are we.
Marsha’s work paved the way for Black trans organizers today — and her politics are at the root of Columbus Community Pride. Join us on Monday, June 11, at the Vanderelli Room, for a celebration of Marsha. Learn about her legacy and impact, and work alongside community members to create a collaborative art project.
This is an all-ages event; families (including chosen family) are encouraged!
This event will feature:
• Art and information about Marsha’s life and contributions
• A talk and discussion of Marsha’s legacy
• A collaborative, community collage to celebrate what Marsha means to us today — QTIPOC especially are encouraged to contribute!