LGBTQ people in St. Louis plan to march through the Grove on Saturday to decry Boeing’s sponsorship of this year's Pride Fest. Organizers of the “No Pride in Genocide” protest are calling on the Pride festival to end its affiliation with Boeing, which manufactures weapons for Israel.
Demonstrators plan to meet at 7 p.m. Saturday at Kingshighway and Manchester Road. Rally organizers rally said Boeing’s contribution to the war in Gaza, where Israeli bombardments have killed thousands, clashes with the mission of Pride St. Louis. Local drag performer and protest organizer Maxi Glamour said the protest aims to empower the communities to end oppression.
“The advancement of queer liberation is impossible unless connected to Palestinian liberation!” Glamour wrote in a social media post.
Boeing has sponsored the festival for seven years but upgraded its contribution this year. The company will present the Grand Pride Parade on June 30, the final event of the weekend celebration. Boeing paid at least $10,000 as a PrideFest corporate equity sponsor in 2023. Officials haven’t confirmed the cost of the major sponsorship this year, but Pride STL's 2024 budget projects an overall $85,000 increase in sponsorship funds compared to last year.
Pride St. Louis is the best-attended LGBTQ celebration in the city. More than 300,000 attendees join each year, festival officials said. Misi Bardenheir, of O'Fallon, Missouri, has attended Pride for years and celebrates its safe space for marginalized groups. But she won't go this year because of Boeing's support of the Israeli military.
“When you’re a human rights activist you have to be in support of all human rights,” Bardenheier said. “What they are going through is far more important than my pride. It's not what we're focused on right now. We should be doing everything in our power to help.”
Organizers of Pride St. Louis could not be reached for comment.
The Pride protesters are among several local groups calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Students at Washington University protested the school’s Boeing investment in early May. Pride protest organizers aim to persuade Pride St. Louis to divest from Boeing before the festival begins.
