New Orleans demands: Shell Oil out of Pride!
New Orleans, LA – On the evening of June 14, around 30 community members and organizers gathered outside of Louis Armstrong Park to protest Shell Oil’s Pride sponsorship and march ahead of the New Orleans Pride parade.
“If Shell gets to roll through our streets with a police escort, then we are going to march. You don’t get to attack us and expect us to play nice,” said Molly Frayle from the Queer and Trans Community Action Project (QTCAP).
Heavy thunderstorms threatened to shut down both the parade and the protest, but the rain eventually receded, and the parade was only delayed by an hour. Chanting, “We refuse to be silent, Stonewall was a riot,” the protesters jumped into the street and began marching in front of the parade’s police escort to denounce Shell’s corporate greed.
Police attempted to hinder the march when the parade route turned into the French Quarter. Two police vehicles blocked the right side of the road where protesters attempted to turn, and officers threatened to escalate if the march tried to get through. Undeterred, protesters marched onto the sidewalk and moved around the police cars, chanting “Bottoms and tops: we all hate cops!”
The march continued down Royal Street while demonstrators chanted, “Gave half a million to the right, Shell’s not with us in this fight!” and “Queer people know the time, it’s time to stand with Palestine!” Paradegoers cheered in support.
As the march ended back at Louis Armstrong Park, Blu DiMarco of QTCAP closed out by saying, “Shell likes to pretend they care about LGBTQ people. But they use their politician dogs to attack us year ‘round. We’re not fooled by their little ‘ad-on-wheels’ [parade float] at Pride. We know what they are: the enemy of LGBTQ people in this country and around the world.”
Organizers with QTCAP will be holding a People’s Pride event on the anniversary of Stonewall this year – Saturday, June 28 – to honor the historic uprising and a long legacy of queer resistance. The rally and march will begin at Washington Square Park, near the city’s Marigny neighborhood, at 5:30 p.m.