Boston might be getting a "Straight Pride Parade" later this summer.
Just a few days into LGBTQ Pride Month, a group of men in Boston announced they were planning a parade to commemorate the straight community. With a tagline of “It’s great to be straight,” the event organizers have adopted Brad Pitt as their “mascot” and even have a “straight pride flag” to represent their “oppressed majority.”
The organization behind the event, tentatively planned for Aug. 31, is Super Happy Fun America, a group “committed to creating spaces for people of all identities to embrace the vibrancy of the straight community.” It believes that “true diversity is only possible when people of all sexual orientations are free to celebrate their lifestyles.”
Mark Sahady, the organization's vice president and a member of the right-wing group "Resist Marxism," announced on Facebook May 30 that Boston Straight Pride “will happen” and claims that the city is working with the group after it filed a "discrimination complaint."
“...it appears the City of Boston understands they would lose in litigation,” Sahady wrote. “The city is now working with us on the parade. We will have the streets closed and be allowed to have floats and vehicles.”
Sahady has organized several other controversial rallies in Boston, including a “Rally for the Republic” in 2017 that drew fewer than 100 right-wing demonstrators and a pro-gun protest in response to the March for Our Lives in 2018.
The post went on to say that the tentative date would be finalized in the coming weeks and provided a map of the parade route.
Sahady did not return NBC News' request for comment.
In response to the public uproar, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh released a statement to NBC News shifting the spotlight to the city's upcoming LGBTQ pride events happening this weekend.
"Every year Boston hosts our annual Pride Week, where our city comes together to celebrate the diversity, strength and acceptance of our LGBTQ community," he said. "This is a special week that represents Boston's values of love and inclusion, which are unwavering. I encourage everyone to join us in celebration this Saturday for the Pride Parade and in the fight for progress and equality for all.”
City Hall confirmed to NBC News that the group applied for a permit for the event but said that a permit has not yet been granted.
“As with all groups seeking to host events in the City of Boston, groups must go through the City of Boston permit process to host events in the City of Boston,” a City Hall spokesperson said.
People took to social media to publicly condemn the event.
Actor George Takei tweeted, “They're planning a ‘straight pride’ parade in Boston, presumably to commemorate that historic moment when courageous heterosexual frat bros finally stood up to the gay cops who had been harassing and arresting them for decades.”
Many straight celebrities also lent their voices to the social media outcry, including actor Chris Evans, the band Smashmouth and Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
“Will ‘Straight Pride’ be a Freaky Friday type situation where all of our history books, movies, stories, media, news, etc feature mostly LGBTQ+ people & perspectives?” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. “Will people have to come out as straight? What would folks march in? Socks w/ sandals on? Dad jeans?”
