PHL Pride Collective partners with GALAEI
The PHL Pride Collective, which formed in June 2021 in the aftermath of the disbandment of Philly Pride Presents, has partnered with the nonprofit GALAEI as they work to organize and fundraise for next year’s Pride event, Billy Penn reported.
Ashley Coleman, GALAEI executive director, told Billy Penn “We as an organization sat down and said, ‘We need to be part of the foundation of this new Pride.’” Coleman also told Billy Penn that she hopes that funding for the 2022 Pride event (which she estimated could cost around $1.5 million) will come from “independent donors, grant funding, and state and federal agencies.”
The partnership, which sets PHL Pride Collective as a program of GALAEI, will initially be for one year, with 6-month and 12-month evaluations. The collective has also created a new web site — which houses the group’s Points of Unity, contact forms and donation information — as well as Facebook and Instagram pages. The Points of Unity include “treating each other and our community with love, respect, honor, and care;” uplifting the experiences of Black and Brown LGBTQ people; prioritizing the local community over big corporations; making Pride accessible to disabled communities; and not communicating or collaborating with police.
Members of the collective gathered over the weekend for an internal retreat “focused on team building and imagining what Pride 2022 could be,” according to the group’s Facebook page. The in-person retreat was hosted at GALAEI’s offices, with some members joining virtually.
For those looking to get involved with the collective, organizer Abdul-Aliy Muhammad told Billy Penn that the group will host a public event in early 2022 to get feedback from community members.
“We want to talk about who we are and share our plan for what we want to see happen in 2022,” Muhammad told Billy Penn. “That’s going to be for the community, and we’re also interested in seeing if potential funders can come to that meeting to learn more about us.”
Franny Price honored for work in the LGBTQ community
Franny Price, former executive director of Philly Pride Presents, was honored by the Pennsylvania State Senate with a special citation for her work in the LGBTQ community dating back to the 1970s. The citation was introduced by Senator Sharif Street and was presented to Price (who also goes by Frances DiCicco) at an October 25 luncheon in the State Capitol. Several LGBTQ community leaders and members were also in attendance.
The citation reads in part: “Whereas, Affectionately known as Franny Price, Ms. DiCicco has been a pillar in the Philadelphia LGBT community since the 1970s. She began her tenure as Executive Director of Philly Pride Presents in 1998 and has helped to plan and organize Philadelphia’s PrideDay and OutFest for more than twenty-seven years.” The citation also noted Price’s work as former chair of the Philadelphia Police Department LGBT Liaison Committee, a former Board member of the Attic Youth Center and the William Way LGBT Center, and her volunteer work with Manna and the City of Brotherly Love Softball League.
Sen. Street posted on Facebook the day after the luncheon that “It is fitting that during LGBTQ+ History Month, I was able to honor a true pioneer of the LGBTQ+ rights movement yesterday on the floor of the State Senate by recognizing the decades of community organizing work done by Franny DiCicco (who many in the community know better as Franny Price). Pennsylvania is truly proud of the work she has done to make our Commonwealth a more welcoming home for so many in the Queer community.”
Price ran Philly Pride Presents until this past June, when the organization abruptly dissolved after pressure from some community members for a lack of inclusivity in prior Pride events as well as for insensitive social media posts about the Stonewall Riots. In the aftermath of the organization’s disbandment, several vendors who bought space at the cancelled 2020 and 2021 Pride events told PGN their money had not been refunded despite multiple requests.