Latest news with #TwinCitiesPride
CBS News
30-06-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Pride celebrations shadowed by concern amid recent attacks on LGBTQ+ people, rights
As Twin Cities Pride wraps up the weekend, the celebration has been shadowed by concern and even attacks on LGBTQ+ people. Other than being a little waterlogged and windblown, this year's Twin Cities Pride celebration has been as big and as bold as ever. The exhibits and entertainment drew eager crowds, and the Pride parade once again brought thousands to downtown Minneapolis. But tempering the festivities are recent attacks on the LGBTQ+ community here in the Twin Cities and across the nation. Surveillance video captured one of 30 incidents of pride flags that have been stolen or vandalized in St Paul. Pride flags have also been ripped down in other communities, including Atlanta, Boston and in Colorado. "I think it proves even more so we are here and why we need to be vocal and why festivals and parades are so important," Andi Otto, executive director of Twin Cities Pride, said. "And we have to show the world we are stronger together and we are not going anywhere." The latest FBI statistics are alarming: 20% of hate crimes are against LGBTQ+ people, and bias incidents are up 46%. Nationwide, attacks based on sexual orientation are up 23%, and attacks based on gender identity are up 16%. This all comes as the Trump administration has announced new policies and regulations for the LGBTQ+ community. Government agencies have scrubbed web pages, including resources from government agencies. Funding for HIV research has been cut. Transgender policies have changed dramatically, in keeping with the president's position that there are only two genders: male and female. "As a person who is part of that community myself, it's hard to hear and it's hard to, you know, think you are being targeted just for being yourself," Otto said. Otto says the Twin Cities community is defiant, that they will continue to be on offense and nothing shows that more than this weekend's Pride festivities. You can watch WCCO Sunday Morning with Esme Murphy and Adam Del Rosso every Sunday at 6 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.
CBS News
28-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Two major events held in Minneapolis over the weekend
Two major celebrations and a half-million visitors are taking place across Minneapolis. Twin Cities Pride and Somali Independence Day are bringing an air of celebration to the city. "The energy is incredible. Everyone's happy to be here. Everybody's celebrating each other," said Sophia Turner of Minneapolis. "We want people to understand who we are," said Ayub Hassan, who attended Somali Day as the owner of Blue Horn Somali Tea. "What we're highlighting is our freedom." Somali Day commemorates the country's separation from colonial rule in 1960. Both events combined brought roughly over 500,000 individuals to Minneapolis that's roughly the population of Wyoming. "Everyone can be themselves; if you're an ally or part of the LGBTQIA+ community," said Pritchard. "The community we're celebrating can be at a disadvantage, so it's important," said Turner. With both events going, safety is a high priority. Metro Transit even expanded services and offering free rides throughout the weekend of the festivities. "Happy Pride!" said Turner. "Happy Somali Independence Day!" said Iqra Mohamed of Minneapolis. Minnetrista resident Mike Schoeneman brought his girls to both events. "To celebrate the cultures and everything and to show my girls the differences too," said Schueneman. Pride continues on Sunday, June 29 with a parade starting at 11 a.m.
CBS News
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Here's what roads are closing around Minneapolis and when during event-packed weekend
Looking for something to do in Minneapolis this weekend? You're in luck. Looking for something to do in Minneapolis this weekend? You're in luck. Looking for something to do in Minneapolis this weekend? You're in luck. The City of Lakes is bracing for one of the busiest weekends of the summer. A vibrant lineup of events is scheduled from Loring Park to West Lake Street. Starting with Loring Park, the heartbeat of the city, where festival tents line the street, rainbow street signs are up for the annual Twin Cities Pride Festival. "It reminds you that you are not alone and that you have community and it's time to celebrate," said Andi Otto, Twin Cities Pride Executive Director. With more than half a million people expected at Loring Park over the weekend, security is top of mind. "Twin Cities Pride has been a safe event for 54 years. I don't expect this year to be any different," Otto said. He said planning began with state and local authorities months ago to make sure all of the bases were covered. A full-scale safety operation involving beefed-up private security teams, Minneapolis park police and Minneapolis police officers will be on hand. The parade and Rainbow Run strut downtown on Sunday. Dozens of streets will also be closed to ensure safety, starting at 7 a.m. Hennepin Avenue will be closed with no cross traffic from Washington Avenue to 16th Street North Third Street will be closed from Portland Avenue South to 1st Avenue North, with cross streets open Spruce Street to Yale Place will also be closed, as the parade goes into Loring Park Second Avenue South from Washington Avenue to Fifth Street Portions of the left lane on Nicollet Avenue will remain open for street sweeping and hotel access. Southbound Hennepin Avenue will be closed from Laurel Avenue West to Lyndale Avenue South, as well as 16th Street North from Hennepin Avenue to Laurel Avenue West on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Metro Transit is expanding services and offering free rides on all three days of the festivities. Safety measures will go beyond Loring Park this weekend, just blocks away to West Lake Street. Preparations are already underway for Saturday's Somali Independence Day Festival. More than 40,000 people will line the streets to celebrate their culture and community through music, food and traditions.
CBS News
18-06-2025
- Health
- CBS News
SCOTUS ruling will bring more people to Minnesota for gender-affirming care, advocates say
In a landmark decision on Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a Tennessee law restricting medical treatments — like puberty blockers and hormone therapy — for transgender minors. Twenty-six other states have laws with similar restrictions to Tennessee. With this latest news, LGBTQ+ advocates say they expect to see more people traveling to Minnesota, and even moving to Minnesota to seek gender-affirming care. "We are seeing a just plethoria of folks moving here to Minnesota just to get basic human care," said Andi Otto, executive director of Twin Cities Pride. House Republicans in Minnesota introduced a similar bill this past session banning gender-affirming care, but it didn't make it out of committee. While advocates say there's fear Minnesota could see similar restrictions, Otto said Minnesota's 2023 trans refuge bill gives him reassurance. "I continue to have faith in our legislators and our government to make those decisions and keep Minnesota exactly what it's supposed to be, and that's a state that you're free to be yourself," Otto said. Also on Wednesday, it was also announced the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline would no longer connect those in need of help to the Trevor Project, which helps LGBTQ+ individuals in crisis. "It's really tragic to have these two decisions come on the same day," said Kat Rohn, executive director for OutFront Minnesota. "To see that actually enacted and moved forward is a really hurtful blow to kids who need all the support they can get." Otto said the timing of this announcement during Pride Month is not a coincidence.
New York Post
07-06-2025
- Business
- New York Post
Why there's no shame in corporate America boycotting LGBT Pride Month
'Private companies can do whatever they want,' leftists once snorted in defense of companies like Facebook banning conservative speech. But now the tables have turned, and LGBTQ activists have found themselves in a state between panicked and sulky as their fair-weather friends in corporate America are pulling sponsorships of Pride celebrations this month. As a result, Pride events across the nation are facing budget shortfalls, and activists are blaming everyone but themselves. Advertisement 8 LGBT Pride events across America have seen millions of dollars in sponsorship deals dry up since President Trump returned to the White House, according to reports. lazyllama – At least 14 companies — including Pepsi, Citi, MasterCard, Nissan, Garnier, and US defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp. — have dropped or greatly scaled back their financial contributions to annual Pride events nationwide. Anheuser-Busch, makers of Bud Light, has also backtracked on Pride sponsorship — and for good reason. The company lost an estimated $395 million after its botched partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney led to a nationwide boycott in 2023. Advertisement Ever since, Bud Light has struggled to reposition itself as the good ol' boys, God 'n' guns beverage, to lukewarm reception. The numbers are grim: Heritage of Pride, organizers of New York City's festivities, by far the largest in the nation, faces a $750,000 shortfall this year after nearly a quarter of corporate donations dried up. This follows years of operating at a loss: In 2022, the group was $2.7 million in the hole, and another $1.2 million the following year. 8 At least 14 companies, including MasterCard, have scaled back on their financial contributions to annual Pride events nationwide. 8 Pepsi has also decreased its financial contributions to Pride events around the country. Advertisement 8 Nissan is also including in the group of companies that have either scaled back or dropped their contributions for national Pride events. Christopher Sadowski In California, longtime corporate donors ran for the hills when San Francisco Pride executive director Suzanne Ford reached out begging for money. Twin Cities Pride has seen longtime corporate sponsors in Minnesota shift into retreat mode, and now the group is scrambling to meet a $200,000 goal. Organizers in Washington, DC, Milwaukee, and St. Louis all have reported being ghosted by big companies they once relied upon. All of this is occurring at a time when a dozen companies have withdrawn participation from the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index, a shakedown scheme used by the LGBT nonprofit behemoth to enforce woke capitalism. For LGBTQAI2S+ activists, the reason for all this is simple: It's Trump's fault. Advertisement 8 Trans-influencer Dylan Mulvaney set off a billion-dollar backlash against her 2023 sponsorship program with Bud Light Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/MEGA 8 'There's a lot of fear of repercussions for aligning with our festival,' Wes Shaver, president of Milwaukee Pride, said. Wes Shaver 'There's a lot of fear of repercussions for aligning with our festival,' Wes Shaver, president of Milwaukee Pride, told The New York Times, joining others who believe companies fear they may be penalized by the White House if they donate to Pride events, citing the administration's effort to curtail DEI initiatives. (When asked about this, the White House didn't respond to multiple requests for comment from The Post.) What's equally likely is that everyone just has gay fatigue — a collective eye roll at the oversaturation of LGBT themes in culture, combined with all the negative connotations now associated with Pride. Once a niche event of subculture fun and revelry, it's devolved into a mainstream, month-long orgy of far-leftism that looks more like a tent revival beckoning an impending open-borders transgender race war. Rage-hungry conservative influencers have latched on to videos of public nudity and shameless parents forcing Pride spectacles onto their children. Transgender insanity has swallowed the entire movement and, in doing so, repelled middle-of-the-road Americans. Simply put, it's exhausting. Advertisement And what company, in its right mind, wants to be tied to all that? While activists say companies are afraid of Trump, the same could have been true about Biden. Businesses certainly felt the Democrat gun in their back to start coughing up their woke bona fides during his term. Overall, the corporate retreat from Pride is a good thing for everyone, and it ought to continue. The grotesque parade of political and corporate pandering that's defined Pride over the last two decades is embarrassing, as any honest gay person will admit. 8 Trump has set his sights on banning identity-based initiatives and organizations, according to reports. AP After all, who wants their sex life validated by junk food companies and bomb-makers? Advertisement It's also alienated plenty of old-timers. 'The cold corporations are more important to the rotating Heritage of Pride than the actual surviving Stonewall veterans. Plenty are still alive and kicking,' former New York City Pride Grand Marshall Williamson Henderson, of the Stonewall Veterans Association, and who participated in the original Stonewall rebellion in June 1969 (the reason Pride Month exists), told The Post. 8 NYC Pride alone has seen nearly a million dollars in funding losses. Some community observers, however, suggest the Pride event has become over-commercialized. Getty Images Corporate America is a shallow and skittish place, and only the most destructive HR managers want their businesses butting in on the culture wars. Advertisement Rather than blaming Republicans for a long-deserved pushback against Rainbow Totalitarianism, LGBT activists ought to do a better job policing themselves, embark on a little soul searching as to how they became so toxic, and maybe even re-examine their unbridled love of money. That last one might be a tough sell. Free Love? Not anymore. It's just about free stuff.
