Latest news with #Queerbomb
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Queerbomb changes format for 2025 Pride celebration, citing organizational roadblocks
AUSTIN (KXAN) — A locally organized, annual Pride celebration will look different this year after organizers said they faced challenges in the planning process. Queerbomb has made several posts on Instagram over the last few weeks about this year's event looking different than past events. On Wednesday, the account made a post sharing more details, saying that the event would be held as a picnic and sign-making event on the south lawn of the Texas Capitol, rather than its typical Pride march and rally. Related: Pride Month event Queerbomb may not happen due to lack of volunteers Queerbomb's post cited a few different reasons for the format change, but mostly focused on a change in volunteer staff and organizational roadblocks. The post said that last year's 'already small volunteer crew' held off on planning for the event until January, but ultimately 'no longer had the capacity to make this happen.' The group then asked the community for volunteers and said that though people stepped up to help, they were 'still short on the people needed to make a large-scale, multi-part event happen this year in half the time.' Queerbomb also said in the post that it had planned to host the event at the same venue that was used last year, but that the venue 'wanted to censor the rally or move it away from the main stage.' KXAN reached out to the venue to ask for commentary and will update this story if we receive a response. The post also mentioned roadblocks such as Austin Police Department fees and involvement, city council changes, and a 'time crunch severely limited organizers' ability to plan a safe event for everyone.' The post noted that organizers voted to shift what the event looks like this year 'to ensure there is still space for queer community free from censorship and corporate involvement that welcomes all expressions of gender, sexuality, and pride.' Queerbomb also made a post back in February that the event was at risk of not happening this year due to a lack of volunteer organizers. This year's event will be held on the south lawn of the Texas State Capitol on Saturday, June 7, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sign-making supplies and refreshments will be available until supplies run out. Donations collected for this year's event will fund the needed supplies, and leftover funds will be saved for future events, according to the post. KXAN reached out to Queerbomb organizers for more information. We will update this story if we receive a response. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pride Month event Queerbomb may not happen due to lack of volunteers
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Local community-organized event Queerbomb is at risk of not happening this year due to a lack of volunteer organizers, according to a long-time organizer of the event. The event is one of the first during LGBTQ+ Pride Month. It features a rally, march and party—all of which typically take dozens of labor hours to set up. The event began 15 years ago to 'counter the whitewashed, reductionist, corporate, 'family-friendly' pride that has become the status quo across the country,' according to a social media post. Organizer Sage West, who has worked on the event's administrative side since 2016, told KXAN that many volunteers never returned following the COVID-19 pandemic. 'What I always wanted Pride to be': Queerbomb Austin returns after pandemic pause 'We used to have an average of probably a dozen, dozen and a half people on a regular basis, and then it would increase day of,' they said. 'Oftentimes [now], there's less than half a dozen of us, usually about half of that that attend regular meetings. All of these organizers, save for myself, work for either the government or nonprofits that are dependent upon the government for funding, so they are in real danger of potentially losing their jobs [in the current moment].' Queerbomb is planned via group calls over the course of the year. Volunteers set up fundraiser events and the actual event on those calls, voting on decisions as needed. But a repeated decision to get march permits has drawn a lot of criticism online. A march will draw police presence to block off intersections along the route regardless of permitting. Volunteers explored alternatives in previous years but ultimately voted to get permits to avoid liability. West noted that community donations have never been used to pay Austin Police and that police officers are not present during other parts of the event. 'They have never been allowed in the actual event…we've never called the cops for an issue,' they said. 'The problem is that they're there at all in any aspect. That is what people are pushing back upon.' For 2025, whether or not law enforcement will be present hasn't been decided, because no decisions about the event have been made yet. 'NOTHING has been decided for the Queerbomb and is why we're so desperate for people to come out and help us organize,' read a Queerbomb post replying to the criticism. 'If you don't want cops it is not some miraculous effort that takes years to make happen.' West said that critics of the event are welcome to join the meetings on the second Tuesday of each month. 'Anyone can come and comment and join the crew and make their voice heard,' they said. 'Those who show up make it happen. So if you want something different, come make it happen — Be the change you want to see.' The next Queerbomb general meeting is on March 11. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
