APOLOGY TO THE TRANS* COMMUNITY

Las Vegas, NV, November 21, 2017:

Las Vegas Trans Community,

It has been brought to the attention of the Board of Directors that avoidable mistakes were made at the Las Vegas PRIDE Parade 2017, which caused harm and pain to the members of our Trans Communities. We, as a Board, are deeply concerned about the well-being of all of our LGBT community members – we realize that the fight for equality, visibility, and representation is an ongoing battle still fought every day by many members of our diverse communities. We deeply and truly apologize for our part in allowing for unprepared hosts to announce our Trans PRIDE Flag Parade entry. We are sorry for the statements made – which despite their intent – caused harm to others.

We have PRIDE in the diversity of the Las Vegas LGBT community – a diverse rainbow of people, groups, and organizations. We wave a rainbow flag proudly in an effort to rally support, education, and awareness to all issues affecting all LGBT groups and communities. We work hard to bring together diverse members of our many groups and communities to foster growth and collaborative benefit to help lift each other up and help the greater LGBT community as a whole.

In the present, we can see the immediate changes that need to be made and we are doing all we can do to bring more diverse representation to our Board of Directors – we continue to share our call to action with the community, “Please help and get involved!”. We need the continued participation of volunteers to keep Las Vegas PRIDE alive! Looking to the future, we have addressed changes we can make to ensure mistakes are not repeated – and that we grow to be more educated, aware, and representative of our diverse rainbow which we celebrate with PRIDE every day!

We thank our strong community for always standing up and letting their voices be heard. For inquiries about getting involved or to communicate further about this or any other concerns, please reach out to our Secretary, Brady at secretary@lasvegaspride.org.

The Board of Directors, Las Vegas PRIDE

James Healey
President
Las Vegas PRIDE