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Washington Post says staff can attend Pride but not Black Lives Matter protests because of ‘politics’

The Washington Post Pride political

The Washington Post offices. (ERIC BARADAT/AFP via Getty)

The Washington Post is facing criticism after it said staff can attend Pride marches and Juneteenth celebrations because they’re not political – but protests remain out of the question.

The newspaper’s managing editors made the comments in an email sent to staff, which was acquired by Max Tani of The Daily Beast.

In the email, the managing editors of The Washington Post said they wanted to “take this moment to clarify our guidance on certain expressions of personal identity” ahead of the season of festivals and parades.

The editors said they “value the individual identities of all our journalists”, saying each person’s background and experience makes their work better.

“As we say in every job posting, our mission is best served by diverse, multi-generational journalists with varied life experiences and perspectives,” the editors said.

They continued: “With these principles in mind, we want to make clear that newsroom employees may participate in celebratory parades or festivals that are not partisan or political.

“For example, newsroom staff may attend Pride or Juneteenth celebrations, July 4th parades, heritage festivals and other such non-political gatherings.”

However, the editors said protests and demonstrations “are another matter”, and insisted there will be “no relaxation” of the newspaper’s longstanding policy that staff stay away from “expressions of public advocacy.”

The newspaper’s editors went on to tell staff that they are “witnesses and observers” in the public sphere and are not allowed to be “participants or activists”.

Giving an example, the managing editors said staff could attend a “celebration” at Washington DC’s Black Lives Matter Plaza, but they would not be permitted to attend a protest there.

The managing editors went on to say that staff should not hold “protest signs” at parades, nor should they wear hats that support political candidates.

However, staff would be allowed to wear a “rainbow cap”, wave an American flag, or wear a t-shirt that celebrates their personal identity.

The Washington Post managing editors face backlash for suggesting Pride is not political

The managing editors have been roundly criticised on social media for the letter, with many people pointing out that Pride parades are inherently political – and that stripping them of their meaning renders them pointless.

David Menschel, an attorney, said the letter is “a fancy way of saying ‘we allow journalists to celebrate ideas that have widespread respectability’… but not things that challenge the status quo.”

He also argued that, 30 years ago, Pride marches would have been “off limits” for staff.

One Twitter user pointed out that Pride is an “annual commemoration of a riot against continual, systemic police mistreatment of LGBT people” in New York City.

Another questioned why staff are allowed to attend a celebration at Black Lives Matter Plaza but not a protest there.

“So, you can celebrate Black lives but you can’t ask the police not to murder them,” they tweeted.

Napp Nazworth, a political analyst, summed up most people’s thoughts, simply writing: “Every example they gave of non-political parades are political parades.”

Countless others shared their thoughts, arguing that many of the supposedly celebratory events listed by the editors are actually forms of protest.

PinkNews has contacted The Washington Post for comment.

 

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