READING Pride has released a statement ahead of a town hall event later this week following criticism of previous sponsors.
It comes as both PepsiCo and Doritos were dropped as sponsors of the annual Pride festival this year for their complicity in the genocide in Palestine.
Reading Pride cited concerns raised by local LGBTQIA+ activists as well as The Lad Fund in explaining that the sponsors would no longer be part of supporting the event.
In a statement, the organisation said that no weapons or arms companies would have a presence at the event, set for next month, either, and that no uniformed police would be taking part of the festival or the accompanying Pride march.
They did confirm that LGBTQIA+ officers from Thames Valley Police would be attending out of uniform as part of Pride’s Consent Conversations project.
It also explained that the University of Reading would not be represented at the festival due to its policies on trans people regarding toilets on campus.
The organisation is set to hold a town hall event on Saturday (August 2), aiming to continue to address issues which have been raised.
A statement from Reading Pride explained: “Ahead of our town hall on Saturday 2nd August at Freedom Festival for Falasteen, we want to highlight the following changes made in the past year.
“We’ve had a number of constructive conversations with members of Reading’s queer community.
“We have read the open letters and taken their words to heart. The concerns and feelings of the community are important to us – we know we’re not perfect, but we are grateful for the feedback that has helped us to try be better.
“PepsiCo and Doritos have been dropped as sponsors because of their complicity in the genocide in Palestine, as highlighted by The Lad Fund and local LGBTQ+ activists.No weapons or arms companies will have a presence.
“The University of Reading has been banned due to their transphobic toilet policies–there will be no uniformed police in the march or at the festival. There will be LGBTQ+ officers out of uniform due to our work on the Consent Conversations project.
“Any further questions, please attend the town hall at Facebar Reading from 2pm onwards.
“We look forward to meeting you and continuing our conversation.”
Reading Pride is set to hold the town hall event as part of the Freedom Festival for Falasteen at Face Bar from 2pm on Saturday, August 2.
