San Diego Pride Week kicked off on Saturday, July 13 with the tenth annual She Fest where hundreds gathered under the Hillcrest Pride Flag to listen to live music, shop from vendors, and attend workshops at an event centering queer women and nonbinary people. A last-minute decision to cancel one of those workshops led to a rival event occurring in Balboa Park and promises to boycott Pride’s remaining events from Pro-Palestinian organizers.  

Since receiving approval in May, Jewish Voice for Peace San Diego (JVP) and People for Palestine of San Diego (P4P) planned on leading a workshop at She Fest about pinkwashing, the strategy of appealing to LGBTQ+ rights to deflect from a state or organization’s own harmful practices. When the workshop was canceled 12 hours prior to the event, the pro-Palestinian groups decried the move as engaging in the very practice the workshop was about: pinkwashing.  

As other workshop organizers found out about the cancellation, half pulled their participation in solidarity. A couple of those workshops were even held at the rival event in Balboa Park where dozens gathered under shady trees first to hear about Pinkwashing, then an improv play workshop and finally a poetry workshop called Weaving with Words led by queer indigenous women from Pachenga’s Big Oak Press.  

Both JVP/P4P and SD Pride put out statements over the cancellation. Pride cited safety concerns as the cause, specifically that there was “a significant chance of on-site conflict.” The apology blamed interim co-executive directors Jen LaBarbera and Sarafina Scappichio for not doing “due diligence” in thorough vetting and creating a thorough safety plan, while saying the decision did not reflect on the labor of She Fest volunteers and workshop organizers. 

In its own statements, JVP and P4P said the first email they received about the cancellation cited “fiduciary” concerns. The orgs said they were “disappointed and outraged” by the decision, and Pride was “prioritizing Zionist funding over their community and are complicit in the oppression of the Palestinian people.” According to JVP, She Fest organizers said the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) was upset by the workshop. The ADL is not a sponsor of Pride.

In phone and email conversations with Pride marketing and communications director Joslyn Hatfield, she said Pride’s first priority is safety, so if safety is even a question, then it does not meet Pride’s high bar for safety.

JVP also claimed LaBarbera explicitly committed to support the workshop if there was backlash. In a statement sent by interim co-Executive Directors LaBarbera and Scapicchio and the board co-chairs, Pride said LaBarbera met with a She Fest co-chair in June regarding concerns and safety ideas. LaBarbera directed She Fest volunteers and workshop coordinators to develop a safety plan. JVP’s statements and Pride’s statements confirmed the workshop leaders and volunteers developed a safety plan in private meetings in the ensuing weeks. 

According to Pride, that safety plan was submitted to Pride last Thursday evening, less than 48 hours before the event. When staff leadership and the board discovered the volunteers expected on-site conflict, they re-assessed their own preparedness to keep the entire event safe in a broader context. “Given the short time our full leadership team had to review and assess the situation, the assessment was that we were not prepared to ensure a safe environment to host this workshop,” the statement reads. “We are aware that the impact of our late assessment caused people to feel silenced, which was not our intention. Nevertheless, we own our need to do better as we move forward.”

Pride leadership said it is reexamining the approval process for workshops and how to better support volunteer teams in the future. JVP and P4P did not respond to a request for comment. Hatfield said the organization is aware this has caused a rupture of trust and harm in the community, and promises to regain trust and repair harm. 

Pride previously released a statement calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, and the even more radical She Fest encouraged action to support Palestinians and resist Islamaphobia, antisemitism and other forms of oppression.

She Fest occurred smoothly on Saturday and the remaining Pride Week events are going forward as planned. Pride’s social channels have been inundated with negative comments about the cancelation, with a few in support of the decision. With 250,000 spectators expected on Saturday, it’s hard to imagine turnout being much impacted over the controversy. It could boost turnout of the smaller People’s Pride that occurs the following weekend at Balboa Park with no law enforcement or business sponsors allowed.  

On Pride’s 50th anniversary, it is disappointing to see the community divided, especially over an unforced error. However, that too is in line with Pride’s history. As early as 1976, there were community conflicts about depoliticizing Pride and the women’s caucus even refused to participate in the early ‘80s over rebranding from a march to a parade. Pride’s political roots have become ongoing and cyclical conflicts yet the community always manages to reunite to defeat shared threats, whether it be a crackdown on gay-affirming teachers in 1978 or the AIDS crisis decimating the community later in the ‘80s.  

This post has been updated to reflect it was the safety plan submitted close to the event, not the curriculum of the workshop that led to the cancelation. In addition, Pride said donor influence was not a factor in the decision. Their full statement is below: 

“Workshops for She Fest were approved by our She Fest coalition leaders, who are volunteers who oversee the entire program. The workshop titles and names of presenters/organizations were shared with Pride staff. One of the She Fest co-chairs met with one of the Interim Co-Executive Directors at the end of June and discussed some concerns and ideas for a safety plan regarding the workshop. She Fest volunteers and workshop presenters then worked on a safety plan together, but the final plan was not shared back with Pride staff until Thursday evening, less than 48 hours before the event. When it became clear to Pride that these volunteers were expecting on-site conflict due to the workshop, Pride’s collective leadership team discussed our own preparedness in a broader safety context of all those attending the weekend. Given the short time our full leadership team (Board and staff) had to review and assess the situation, the assessment was that we were not prepared to ensure a safe environment to host this workshop. We are aware that the impact of our late assessment caused people to feel silenced, which was not our intention. Nevertheless, we own our need to do better as we move forward. We are reviewing all of our processes, including the approval process for workshops and how to best support our volunteer teams for future events. We appreciate and value the diversity of viewpoints in our community and San Diego Pride will continue to work toward uplifting voices in safe and thoughtful ways.”