As with countless other facets of life in this bizarre and chaotic year, 2020 Pride festivals and celebrations would not go forward in June as they had every June for fifty years. Floyd’s torturous eight-minute, forty-six second murder occurred on – exactly one week - just seven days - before LGBTQ+ folks worldwide were set to begin the annual month-long celebration of individual self-worth, collective joy in community, and Global Pride 2020 – albeit a little differently this year. The police murder of unarmed African American George Floyd at the hands of white former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin ignited literal firestorms of protests, rallies, and marches demanding an immediate and abrupt course correction of how Black bodies are treated by far too many white folks in possession of badges, guns, and government granted authority to end another human beings’ life.
