Pride parades still matter because they want us exterminated

Photo: Gerald Farinas.

Let’s be clear!

Pride is not a party.

It’s a protest.

And in 2025, that protest is not just important—it’s urgent. Because everything we’ve fought for, marched for, been arrested for, and died for is under siege.

This isn’t fear-mongering. It’s reality.

The government is coming for us

This President—let’s call it what it is, a Christian nationalist regime in all but name—is waging an all-out war on LGBTQ people!

He’s banning DEI programs that protect people of color, LGBTQ workers, women, immigrants—everyone who doesn’t fit his 1950s fantasy of America.

He’s attacking trans children and their families with cruel, life-destroying policies.

Medical care? Gone.

Dignity? Gone.

Safety? Gone.

Congress and state legislatures are rolling back basic rights—housing protections, job protections, public accommodations, healthcare access, education, name it.

And let’s not ignore what’s ahead: marriage equality is absolutely in their crosshairs, with conservative organizations openly planning legal cases to flip it at the Supreme Court.

They’ve already taken away reproductive freedom.

Do you really think they’ll stop there?

The cowardice of corporations

And now the money is drying up too. Corporations that used to slap rainbows on their logos every June are bailing out—fast.

Why?

Because they’re afraid of Donald Trump.

Afraid he’ll tweet about them. Afraid he’ll sic boycotts on them.

Afraid of what his opinions of them might mean for their bottom line.

So they’re folding like cheap lawn chairs.

No more parade floats.

No more sponsorships.

No more donations.

Just silence.

Corporate America has decided that we are expendable.

Democrats are shrinking too

But the betrayal doesn’t stop at the boardroom. It’s happening in the Democratic Party too.

Gov. Gavin Newsom—once the face of liberal resistance—is now cutting healthcare for undocumented immigrants and saying we went too far on trans rights.

That’s not strategy.

That’s surrender.

We don’t need Democrats who cower and calculate. We need Democrats who fight.

Gov. JB Pritzker, who protects trans youth and calls out fascism with the strength we should demand from every elected official.

Congresswoman AOC, who refuses to play polite while the house is burning.

Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who doesn’t sugarcoat the truth, and wields her voice like a weapon of justice.

These are the leaders we need.

The others?

Get out of the way.

Why we still march

Pride is still necessary because our lives are still treated as disposable. Because they are trying to erase us—not just from public life, but from the law, the economy, and the history books. They want us gone.

That’s why we march.

We march because Stonewall was a riot.

Because Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera didn’t ask for permission.

Because trans people are being hunted.

Because Black queer youth are sleeping on the streets.

Because hate is growing louder—and too many are whispering when they should be shouting.

We march because our joy is resistance.

Our visibility is rebellion.

Our love is political.

And if you think we don’t need Pride anymore, you haven’t been paying attention.

Let them be afraid of our glitter.

Let them flinch at our chants.

Let them know!

We are not backing down.

We are not going back.

We are not done.

Pride still matters.

Because the fight is far from over.