Organizers of Los Angeles’ LGBTQ Pride celebration are dropping plans for a “solidarity protest march” after being hit with criticism for seeking collaboration from local police for the event.

Christopher Street West, which produces L.A. Pride, announced Monday that it would instead turn the proposal over to All Black Lives Matter, an advisory board of Black LGBTQ activists and community leaders.

The news came less than a week after Christopher Street West announced plans for the march, to be held June 14 in place of the city’s annual Pride parade. Much like the ongoing demonstrations taking place worldwide, the event was conceived as a “response to racial injustice, systemic racism and all forms of oppression.”

At first, the June 3 announcement garnered an enthusiastic response from members of the city’s LGBTQ community, though some questioned how social-distancing measures would be enforced. In May, all in-person L.A. Pride festivities were canceled as part of citywide efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

A day later, the mood quickly soured when a screenshot of an event permit application submitted to the Los Angeles Police Department was posted to Twitter. As Netflix’s Fran Tirado pointed out, partnering with the LAPD went against the mission of the protests, which began as a response to the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other Black Americans at the hands of police.

Poster Comment:

Antifa must have hijacked the KY Jelly trucks.