The Reclaim Pride Coalition’s eighth annual Queer Liberation March, which is one of two main Pride Marches in New York City on the final Sunday in June, will begin at 3 p.m. on June 28 — three hours after the NYC Pride March steps off.
First held in 2019, the Queer Liberation March is a grassroots march which bars police and corporations in an effort to return to the roots of Pride. Marchers will assemble at 2:30 p.m. at Union Square West before stepping off at 3 p.m. and marching south along Broadway to Foley Square.
This year’s theme is “Breaking the Chains of War and Oppression for Trans and Immigrant Rights.” According to the Reclaim Pride Coalition, this year’s theme aims to emphasize the rights of transgender, gender non-conforming, and non-binary individuals at a time when trans Americans have faced overwhelming transphobia from the federal government, including widespread efforts to restrict gender-affirming care, the right to play sports, serve in the military, and more.
“Trans people are routinely used as scapegoats by those in power seeking to avoid accountability when it comes to addressing any of the actual problems they’re tasked with solving, even though we make up only 1% of the population,” Queer Liberation March organizer Jade Runk, who founded and serves as president of TQVoices, said in a written statement. “I refuse to sit quietly and allow it to continue. We all deserve better than this, and a better world is possible if we make it.”
This year’s theme, according to the Reclaim Pride Coalition, also seeks to bring attention to violence against Black and Brown immigrant communities.
“This year’s march is more important than ever, as we see virtually every advancement made over the last 100 years in civil rights, human rights, and post-colonial global stability being dismantled,” Jay W. Walker, Queer Liberation March co-founder and organizer, said in a written statement. “The Queer Liberation March is an opportunity for our TGNCNB and LGBTQIA2S+ communities to stand together against this rise of fascist authoritarianism at home and abroad.”
Those who wish to join the Reclaim Pride Coalition as an organizer, marshal, or volunteer are encouraged to learn more and sign up at queermarch.org/get-involved. Read about last year’s Queer Liberation March here.
