21-02-2025
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.
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