St. John’s Pride and Palestine Action YYT say they are taking a stand against the commercialization of Pride

After a corporate sponsor publicly disaffected itself from St. John’s Pride over its commitment to boycott certain companies, a pro-Palestinian activist working with the organization defended the list of targeted companies, arguing that it was about not being at the mercy of corporate interests.

Nikita Stapleton, one of the organizers of Palestine Action YYT, which will serve as grand marshals of the July 21 Pride parade in St. John’s, says the movement against the “corporatization” of the Pride festival is nothing new.

“In this case, it is just particularly contradictory to ask us – as a group that opposes genocide – to march alongside companies that are complicit in that genocide.”

When St. John’s Pride named Stapleton’s organization as Grand Marshals at their annual paradePalestine Action YYT had its own requirements for participation, including taking action against companies on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) list. The agreement prohibits St. John’s Pride from accepting donations from certain companies or allowing Pride to be used for corporate public reputational gain.

The commitment to the BDS list is already having an impact.

Harvey’s Home Heating is part of the A. Harvey Group of Companies, as is Browning Harvey Ltd., the local bottler of Pepsi – and PepsiCo is on the list.

Harvey’s general manager Chris Forward said the company had has cancelled its Pride on the Pier event and withdrew its sponsorship of St. John’s Pride. Harvey’s is donating directly to another group within the local 2SLGBTQ+ community and will financially compensate the scheduled performers, he told CBC News on Thursday.

Eddy St. Coeur, external co-chair of St. John’s Pride, said the board is no longer relying on corporations that can pull short-term funding, but is turning to individuals to finance the festival.

“As we’ve seen this week, it’s very, very, very easy and people react very quickly and withdraw their support if they don’t get the positioning and brand positioning they expected from the festival,” St. Coeur said.

St. Couer said other organizations such as Pride PEI and Fredericton Pride have recently taken similar steps to sever ties with companies on the BDS list.

Move carefully

St. Coeur said the parade represents more than just the 2SLGBTQ+ community and St. John’s Pride researched Palestine Action YYT before contacting the group.

“We really started to understand where these two issues kind of intersect. And then we reached out to the group and here we are today and we’re really glad we did,” St. Coeur said.

Although there were some negative reactions, Stapleton said they were mostly positive.

“It means so much to us that this is recognized – the connection between all our liberation,” said Stapleton

Palestine Action YYT also called for the parade to be police-free, meaning without uniformed officers and without law enforcement symbols, and for greater involvement of indigenous and racially-affected communities.

Stapleton said people around the world have different ideas about how to resolve the situation in Palestine, and those participating in the march are not committing to a particular solution.

“They definitely agree that things cannot continue as they are happening now. And I think that’s something we can all get behind,” Stapleton said.

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