Pride London turmoil: Co-founder ‘heartbroken,’ two board members quit

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One of Pride London’s founders is asking for forgiveness on behalf of the organization that’s faced months of leadership upheaval – with two new board resignations – and criticism amid a push for more diversity at its top.

In an open letter to members Thursday, Ben Benedict said he’s “heartbroken” at hearing the experiences of people who have felt “turned away, disrespected, abandoned, and simply not invited to sit at the table” of Pride London that organizes the city’s annual 10-day LGBTQ festival.

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“This is not what I envisioned 22 years ago,” Benedict, one of seven people who founded Pride London in 2002, said in an interview.

“I built this thing so all these people would be included. I don’t know what happened and how it got off the rails,” he said of the push for change by members of Pride London who have put forward motions to both dissolve its board and disband the organization altogether.

Benedict’s lengthy letter to the Pride London board and members, sent out by email, comes after two board members, including the acting president, abruptly resigned Wednesday night in the aftermath of calls for better racial and gender diversity on the board to better reflect the city’s LGBTQ community.

In his letter, Benedict indicated the LGBTQ community is changing and older activists such as himself need to adapt to make room for that.

“We need to stand together and old guys (and gals) like me need to understand the world has changed and continues to do so,” he wrote.

“We were giants; now we need to stand firm so that the next generation can stand tall on our shoulders and so that they can lead the next generation. This is what the community needs from us. All of us.”

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The six-member board – four white men and two white women – had been on its third leader since May, after a former president was ousted and his acting replacement quit in frustration weeks later over what he called infighting within the board about the ouster.

Michelle Paradis, the latest acting president, and Chase Knowles, a temporary board member, announced their resignations, which they called a “positive change” for the organization, in a joint post to Pride London’s social media accounts Wednesday night.

“Pride London is adapting to better reflect the diverse voices within our community, ensuring that everyone feels seen, heard, and celebrated,” Paradis and Knowles wrote in their post.

“As we navigate these changes, it’s essential to remember the spirit that has united us, and to embrace the future with open hearts and minds,” they wrote.

Former acting president John Fuller said he didn’t expect Paradis and Knowles to go.

“I was shocked, actually. They were not the problematic ones,” he said referring to board members who’ve clashed with the group’s wider membership.

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Rayne Fisher, the former co-chair of Pride London’s transgender committee, stepped down in June, a decision he said he made after he was verbally misgendered by a board member during a meeting.

Misgendering is being called by a pronoun different than what a person uses themself. Fisher identifies as transmasculine and uses he/him pronouns, but contends he was called “lady.”  He said he was surprised by that, because the group had just parted ways with its president a month earlier over similar complaints involving misgendering.

Formally known as Pride London Festival, but also as Pride London, the organization is a volunteer group. It mainly operates as the organizer of the annual Pride festival but also loosely functions as an umbrella group for London’s LGBTQ community.

Fisher is part of a faction pushing to give members a chance to vote on “essentially just restarting” Pride London, with a board better reflective of the LGBTQ community. Members gathered Monday to vote on motions to dissolve the group’s board and scrap the organization, but not enough people showed up to allow the votes to proceed.

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Former Pride London president Rick Renaud was voted out by the board in early May over complaints about frequent misgendering of members of the community, according to Fuller and Paradis. The London Free Press had sought comment by Renaud over those allegations, but he could not be reached.

Asked Thursday if he wished to comment for this story, Renaud declined.

Renaud’s replacement on the board, Fuller, resigned weeks later as acting president, saying “infighting within the board” about Renaud’s departure prompted him to quit.

Two new board members were elected June 18, less than a month before the Pride festival began.

With one-third of its board now gone, the four members left aren’t enough for Pride London to make board decisions, according to its bylaws. The organization hasn’t said when an election will be held for new board members or who will take over as president.

In a Facebook post Thursday, community member Naomi Nadea announced an intention to run for president, advocating for a dedicated LGBTQ community centre in London and a desire to drop “festival” from Pride London’s name as part of expanding its year-round programming.

The group’s annual general meeting is scheduled for Nov. 21.

nbrennan@postmedia.com

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