barrettSan Diego’s JPride Weekend to Feature Playing Together Project, Highlighting Inclusivity Amidst Pride Controversy
San Diego, CA – As San Diego prepares for a deeply divided Pride season, the Jewish non-profit Playing Together Project is set to make a significant appearance at the inaugural JPride Festival on Saturday, July 19. This event is a cornerstone of the alternative JPride Weekend, running from July 18-20, offering a vital space for joy, connection, and celebration for San Diego’s LGBTQ+ and Jewish communities an their allies. Playing Together Project, founded in 2023 and dedicated to fostering unity between African American and Jewish American communities through shared cultural experiences, brings a powerful message of solidarity.
This inclusive initiative comes as San Diego Pride faces an unprecedented level of controversy. Grammy-nominated artist Kehlani remains a headliner for the main Pride festival in Balboa Park on July 18-20. Kehlani’s outspoken pro-hamas stance and previous comments, including phrases like “f*** Israel, f*** Zionism,” and “dismantle Israel,” are antisemitic, igniting immense anger, pain, and protest within the Jewish community and beyond.
Kehlani’s inclusion as a headliner for San Diego Pride, despite these antisemitic comments, has been met with significant backlash. New York City Pride, along with other cities and organizations, has already removed Kehlani from their Pride celebrations due to similar concerns. Cornell University also canceled a Kehlani concert after outrage from students. Here in San Diego, a substantial coalition of Jewish organizations and synagogues, including the Jewish Federation of San Diego and the Anti-Defamation League of San Diego, have unequivocally withdrawn their participation from the festival, citing “serious safety concerns” and the “repeated amplification of violent antisemitic rhetoric.” These groups, alongside others like UC San Diego and UC San Diego Health, have also pulled their sponsorships.
A Co-Founder Steps Away
Further underscoring the deep divisions, Nicole Murray Ramirez, a revered co-founder of San Diego Pride and a prominent figure in the local LGBTQ+ community, has announced a personal boycott of both the parade and festival this year. Murray Ramirez, heartbroken by the situation, stated that the San Diego Jewish community has been a steadfast ally for the LGBTQ+ community throughout its history, and that featuring Kehlani, despite their antisemitic comments, represents a profound betrayal of that allyship and an unacceptable platforming of hate speech. “This is not about freedom of speech,” Murray Ramirez said. “This is about hate speech. Hate speech doesn’t belong in Pride.”
Despite these significant withdrawals and the palpable pain within segments of the community, San Diego Pride organizers have maintained their decision to keep Kehlani on the lineup. They emphasize their commitment to free expression while, in contradiction, asserting a zero-tolerance policy for hate speech, and highlight the festival’s broader mission to support LGBTQIA+ communities. However, the controversy ensures that this year’s San Diego Pride will not just be a celebration for some, but also a deeply divisive and reflective moment for a community grappling with the intersection of identity, activism, and the unequivocal rejection of antisemitism.
“I grew up the sibling of someone LGBTQ and I am the relative of several other wonderful human beings who are LGBTQ” says Playing Together Project director Barrett Holman Leak. “I will always celebrate and love them, my LGBTQ friends and colleagues…everyone. I am commanded and committed to love just as I am loved by God.”
Registration
There are three events taking place for the JPride cebelation. Friday July 18 will feature a Shabbat service. Saturday July 19 will feature the JPride Festival. Finally, Sunday July 20 will featue a bagel breakfast. You can register for the JPride Weekend events HERE