This June, pride month celebrations and protests are backlit by political unrest spurred by ICE raids, mobilization of the California National Guard against protestors in Los Angeles and police response to protests. In light of these imminent threats to undocumented members of the queer community, LA Pride organizers stated that they were “actively working with local Law Enforcement to ensure a safe and welcoming environment at all Pride events.” Evan Sevaly, CM ’26 argues that the cognitive dissonance of asking the members of the queer community to put their trust in the same people who are persecuting them is indicative of how pride has been leveraged by the forces it was found to fight against.
