I encourage everyone to join us in celebration this Saturday for the Pride Parade and in the fight for progress and equality for all.” This is a special week that represents Boston’s values of love and inclusion, which are unwavering. Mayor Martin Walsh’s office confirmed the Straight Pride parade is seeking a permit, but did not state whether it will receive one.Īsked about Hugo’s parade, Walsh’s office put out a statement saying, “Every year Boston hosts our annual Pride Week, where our city comes together to celebrate the diversity, strength and acceptance of our LGBTQ community. “It’s a surprise to us that there’s a certain group that feels they need to do that.”
“It’s ironic because a lot of the people who are going to be at Pride are our straight allies in the community,” DeMarco said. She added, “They certainly can come Saturday and join us, if they want.”īut DeMarco laughed after being asked about the opinion that straight people are treated worse than gay people. “Obviously, people can have their own freedom of speech,” DeMarco said. Pride President Linda DeMarco said her organization is taking no position for or against the Straight Pride parade. The 49th annual Boston Pride parade is planned for this Saturday. Gay people, trans people, whoever … We stand for gay rights.” Hugo, who said the causes he’s advocating for include preventing doctors from administering sex-change procedures on minors.īut Hugo insisted that his organization is not a hate group: “Anybody who wants to come, come. “We shouldn’t be treated any differently and we are.” “We are sick and tired of being treated like second-class citizens,” said Hugo of heterosexuals. He said he asked City Hall to fly the “Straight Pride” flag - a pink and blue flag with an intertwined male symbol and female symbol - on its flagpole, but that the city declined.
31, said the parade is aimed at protesting “some serious heterophobia” in Boston. John Hugo, the president of the “Super Happy Fun America” organization that’s putting together the event tentatively planned for Aug. Local conservative activists are planning a “Straight Pride” parade in Boston for August - with their own heavy security in case of trouble - though both its organizer and the president of the LGBTQ pride parade invited each other to the other’s events.