Dear Pride Family,
Monday marked an anniversary we aren’t celebrating. It would have been a celebration of 51 years of legal protection for many (not all) folks in the US to access essential healthcare, abortion. Instead it is a day of disappointment and reflection.
I’m devastated to see fundamental rights stripped from fellow Americans. I’m furious with the state governments who are risking the lives of pregnant people everyday. I’m disappointed in our healthcare systems that under-serve Black folks and poor folks and so many others throughout their lives, but particularly through pregnancy and childbirth.
I’m frustrated by the rhetoric labeling abortion access as a women’s issue. Reproductive Justice is for everyone. It’s for folks with the capacity for pregnancy and for folks who don’t have that capacity. To be clear: Reproductive Justice is LGBTQ+ Justice.
I’m also reflecting on positive memories surrounding the fall of Roe. Hear me out.
I reflect on the wins I’ve seen across the country when abortion is on the ballot. Americans have proven we overwhelmingly support abortion access; from Kansas to Ohio, to right here in California.
I remember the joy and excitement our community and volunteers felt when we canvassed during Pride’s Campaign to pass Prop 1— which enshrined our right to access abortion in the California state constitution. I remember the energy in Waterfront Park on June 24, 2022. We grieved together and cried together, and most importantly, we met the moment to take action together.
I wish we could look back on that day and know our work is done. But, I don’t need to tell you that the fight is just beginning. We’ve made progress in California, but we are far from a just and liberated society.
I’m not sure what this year will bring. But, I am sure that organizing works. Organizing is how we’ll be able to shift the power to the people and create sustainable change that won’t be repealed by changing faces on the Supreme Court.
I invite you to join our organizing efforts. In a few months, San Diego Pride will host our 2nd Annual Grassroots Organizing Conference:The Pride Power Summit, on Saturday May 11, 2024. We’re working to empower more activists in our communities with the skills and resources to make long lasting change.
We also welcome you to help us get out the vote with our Vote With Pride campaign for the March Primary election just around the corner. Or better yet, join our year round advocacy team fighting for LGBT+ justice across San Diego County, particularly in the School Boards where student rights are at risk.
Take time to grieve this week, there’s plenty to mourn. But, I encourage you to find hope in the folks making history now. Join them. Perhaps you’ll make some history of your own.
With Pride,
Jen Hibberts (she/they)
Outreach and Organizing Coordinator
San Diego Pride raises funds primarily through festival ticket and beverage sales, and through sponsorships, and exhibitor fees. These funds support San Diego Pride’s community philanthropy which has distributed more than $2.5 million in advancement of its mission to foster pride, equality, and respect for all lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities locally, nationally, and globally.
