Dear organisers of Manchester Pride,​

We write to you as a coalition of queer people in Manchester who are deeply concerned about the presence of genocide profiteering corporations who sponsor and participate in Manchester Pride.

As you read this letter, Palestinians continue to be murdered by the brutal Israeli occupation forces as the genocide in Gaza continues. To date, well over 37,000 people have been murdered. This includes many of those from the queer community in Palestine.

Israel’s brutal attacks in Gaza, displacement across the West Bank and violent 76 year long occupation of Palestine could not be sustained without international corporate and governmental support.

Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) is a global, Palestinian-led movement which pressures Israel’s apartheid and occupation to cease through economic means. It targets specific international companies which are complicit in and uphold Israel’s illegal occupation. The United Nations (UN) also has its own list of companies which are supporting Israel’s violations of international law. There is much crossover between the BDS and UN list.

As part of this movement, there have also been calls for an arms embargo against Israel. This would directly stop the flow of weapons from arms companies to Israel. Engaging in these forms of targeted boycotts create genuine pressure on the Israeli state to end the genocide, occupation, and apartheid which they have inflicted on the Palestinian people for 76 years.

We see the injustice which plagues queer people's lives and how it is connected to systems of oppression - capitalism, imperialism, and white supremacy all over the world. Queer Palestinians face genocide and racist systems of apartheid, alongside sexual violence and the weaponisation of their identities by the Israeli state to blackmail them. The far right Israeli government uses pinkwashing to present themselves as progressive while enacting violence against queer Palestinians, on top of the violent reality of everyday life in Palestine.

As queer people, we seek to honour resistance to injustice which has paved the way for our own rights and freedoms to be possible, most famously in the Stonewall Riots. The radical origins of Pride must be remembered and carried through in a way that is tangible and not performative. Manchester Pride has a duty to take action to fight against queerphobia and racism. We can celebrate and enjoy the freedoms we have today but we must remember, support and advocate for those who cannot in places such as Palestine, Sudan, Congo, Haiti, Tigray and those who are experiencing the violence of deportation and displacement from climate disaster. There is no pride in genocide.​​​​ What we are asking you to commit to is the bare minimum.

It is imperative that Manchester Pride takes the following action:

1) Drop all existing sponsors who are on the BDS Lists, including Booking.com, and guarantee that no future sponsors are brought in who are on the BDS Lists.

2) Drop all companies on the BDS Lists who have applied to take part in the parade, like Barclays, and ban future applications to take part from those companies.

3) Let us vet your corporate sponsors and commit to a clear, transparent ethics policy on sponsorship with a review of completely dropping corporate sponsorships for next year and beyond

4) Do not partner with any company that profits from any conflict across the world, aides with deportations, or contributes to climate change.

“BDS Lists” include the BDS National Committee list (https://bdsmovement.net/Act-Now-Against-These-Companies-Profiting-From-Genocide) and the United Nations Human Rights Council database (https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/regular-sessions/session31/database-hrc3136) and Campaign Against the Arms Trade export license database (https://caat.org.uk/data/exports-uk/company?region=Israel)

We want to engage in good faith with Manchester Pride to take a stance in line with the radical origins of the movement, so are willing to meet to discuss any of the issues we have raised. However, if our requests are not implemented, there will be a strong mobilisation against the co-opting of our community and pinkwashing that these companies are attempting to do in support of genocide. We refuse to be complicit, and hope that you will follow us in that stance. We are asking for a response by the 22nd July.

We desire a queerness that dismantles empire. We want a queerness that invests in disability justice. We want a queerness that encourages deep interpersonal dialogue, healing, repair, and sociopolitical engagement. We want queerness that includes mutual aid and sustains intimacy. We dream of a queerness rooted in diverse indigenous histories, we deserve a queerness that experiments with freedom dreaming.

As Robin Kelley states in the Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination: "our liberation includes and must go beyond representation, partying, beauty and aesthetics, we deserve and must wish for so much more."

As well as every individual signing this letter, we are also supported by the following organisations:
No Pride in Genocide Manchester
Gay Shame MCR
Queers for Palestine
Lesbians Support Palestine
Trans Pride Manchester
Pride Library
Pecs Drag Kings
Canal Street Kings
Drag Kings of Manchester
MMU LGBTQ+ Society
UoM LGBTQ+ Society
Fossil Free Pride
Girl Gang Manchester
T4T
Queers in MCR
Butch Revival
Diesel Dyke
Skating Queer
Union Manchester FC
Freak Queer Rave
High Hoops
Bent Hedonism
GASH Manchester
EAT ME
Panic! at the Drag Show
Partisan Collective
Queer Family Tea
Snogtown
Kiss Me Again MCR
The T4T BNB
Bye Bye Bangers
New Wave Skate UK
SWANA QTIPOC UK
Hidayah LGBTQI
Fat Out
Queer Roots Collective
Just Do The Thing
Big Queer Picnic
The LAD Fund
Skeletons in the Closet
Spellbound MCR
Wink Manchester
Pen Fight MCR
HAVEN MCR
TENDER
Queer Workers Coalition
So La Flair Theatre
Doll Parts MCR
STAT Magazine
Beg Steal Borrow MCR
Crip Culture Collective Manchester
MMU Disabled and Neurodivergent Society
UoM Disabled Students Society
Greater Manchester Tenants Union
Myco Manchester
Free Companions
Manchester Urban Diggers CIC
Plattfield Market Gardens
UoM Feminist Collective
Youth Front for Palestine
Jewish Action for Palestine
Greater Manchester Friends of Palestine
Manchester Palestine Action
Manchester Camp of Resistance for Palestine
Manchester Feminist Coalition
Manchester Leftist Action
Red Roots Collective
No Borders Manchester
Greater Manchester RS21
Youth Demand Manchester
Rhythms of Resistance
A City United 4 Gaza
Muslim Social Justice Initiative
Manchester Counterfire
Manchester Antifascist Collective
Antifascist Music Alliance
The People's Proud Picnic of Worthing
Student Staff Solidarity Network Kingston