Megan Cunningham-Evans A co-chair of the Auckland Pride Festival Trust is refuting a claim that the organisation is "racist, classist and cis-based" in nature. The allegation comes from a group called Queers Against Injustice which has claimed responsibility for the paint attack on the ANZ Bank's Pride Festival-inspired GAYTM adjacent to last night's Pride Parade route. "No, we are not any of those things, I refute that," says Pride's Megan Cunningham-Adams. Of the group's statement that there is no representation within Pride to counter such attitudes, she says she is not aware "of any approach by any group or organisation in the community which has been turned down." Of the criticism by Queers Against Injustice of “the commercialisation of the Pride Festival” Cunningham-Adams says running an event like Pride "takes money and I don't know how to get around that. We need commercial relationships, without them Pride would just not be possible." Asked if Pride is compromised by those relationships, she says she doesn't believe it is. "No. We wouldn't enter into relationships with organisations if their ideology didn't fit with ours." She says there has to be "give and take." Cunningham-Adams says she is extremely proud of what the Festival achieves. "As Pride matures each year it provides a stronger platform for the voices for social change within the Festival."
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Sunday, 22nd February 2015 - 10:53am