Pride festival organisers have been urged not to promote acts who “perpetuate racist stereotypes”, after an LGBT event in Durham booked a white artist who darkened her skin to impersonate Beyoncé.
A letter signed by LGBT activists including Jack Monroe and Peter Tatchell expresses concern that similar artists are being promoted at other events.
The strongly worded letter says it is an “ongoing issue” that is an “embarrassing stain” on the LGBT community.
“Blackface is a form of racism that dehumanises black people, turning them into objects that can be ‘performed’. It is a modern form of minstrelsy and has no place at Pride,” the letter states.
It offers recommendations for how pride organisations in the UK can commit to ending racist performances, including a suggestion that they diversify their lineups.
Pride in Durham dropped Leanne Harper, a Beyoncé tribute act, from its lineup and apologised for the booking after several groups threatened to boycott the event.
The organisers said: “We have come to the decision not to include this performance in Durham Pride 2017. We have recognised that we need to learn from this and ensure we hear from the BME community and strive to make Durham Pride as inclusive and welcoming to everyone in the county.”
Chardine Taylor-Stone, a cultural producer and activist, said: “After an online campaign Durham pulled the act … What the letter is trying to do is to make sure all the Prides do not book acts in blackface or racist performers.”
Taylor-Stone claimed that Durham organisers’ initial response had been to block critics on Twitter and fail to communicate with anyone. She added: “They claimed to have spoken to a BME charity who said blackface wasn’t offensive, but when we asked who they had spoken to we never got a response. I have heard charities contacting colleagues at UK Black Pride saying it wasn’t us.”
Durham Pride has since tweeted:
Taylor-Stone said: “Racism is the elephant in the room. I have heard so many stories where people have been racially abused at Pride, a place which is meant to be for us. What’s shocking is that in 2017 you’re more likely to get booked at a Pride festival if you are a straight white woman in ‘blackface’ than if you are a BAME LGBTQIA performer. This needs to change and we are coming together as a community to say enough is enough.”
