Community Pride festival uninvites Equitas
Group returns care provider’s $1,000 gift
In response to claims of racial discrimination within Equitas Health, the Community Pride festival created a protest space at the event on Saturday at Mayme Moore Park on the Near East Side.
Now in its fourth year, the annual festival is an intersectional celebration of the Columbus queer community, led by Black, brown, transgender and Indigenous individuals.
LGBTQ health care provider Equitas Health was scheduled to provide testing for sexually transmitted infections via a mobile truck, said festival organizer Charlie Stewart. But Equitas was uninvited following a Dispatch investigation published Oct. 5 that gave voice to current and former employees of color, who came forward with accusations of mistreatment.
Columbus Community Pride also returned Equitas Health’s $1,000 donation.
Stewart said it was important for the festival to provide a safe place for people of color, queer and trans individuals.
“We’ve known that Equitas Health has a racist culture and an anti-black culture, and we’re very proud of all the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of color) employees that spoke out against it in order to implement change,” said Stewart, who uses they/them pronouns.
The health care organization, one of Columbus’ largest nonprofits, did not immediately return the Dispatch’s refor quest for comment.
Festival organizers used the Equitas tent to host a space in protest of the organization. Markers, paper and other materials were provided for attendees to create letters and write signs. Stewart said the materials will be delivered to the health provider.
“I think it’s very important for the community to be able to uplift and support the BIPOC employees and patients,” they said.
Equitas employees are continuing to speak out in the aftermath of the allegations of racial discrimination.
Toward the end of the workday on Friday, Luster Singleton stepped outside the organization’s Mozaic center on Summit Street in the University District with a sign that read, “On strike. Racism and anti-blackness jeopardizing my job security and well-being.”
Singleton, who is Black and uses he/ they pronouns, works as a community outreach and engagement coordinator for Mozaic, which is Equitas’ initiative transgender and gender non-conforming people of color.
“Enough is enough,” said Singleton, 60, of Linden. “I decided to end my public silence. People need to stand up. Someone needs to step out first.”
Singleton was outraged by Equitas’ explanation for the absence of Black male medical case workers at the company: “It is admittedly challenging to find BIPOC medical case managers because in Ohio, they are required to have a bachelor’s degree and be a licensed social worker,” Equitas said in a previous statement to the Dispatch.
Singleton said CEO Bill Hardy apologized for the statement and said it was not the company’s intention to insult the capabilities of BIPOC men. But Singleton was not satisfied with the response given all of the diversity, equity and inclusion work the organization had already done.
“Intention doesn’t mean a damn thing,” Singleton said. “Impact does.”
Singleton went on to share that he felt “assaulted” since he started working at the company.
“I have chosen to overlook it and deal with it for the hope of a better day,” he said.
On Thursday, Equitas released a statement acknowledging the accusations and announcing its plans to hire a chief people and culture officer. Singleton was not impressed.
“Without significant leadership change, it falls flat,” he said.
Singleton plans to strike until “significant change” happens within the organization. He also called for CEO Bill Hardy, Chief Public Policy and Administrative Officer Daphne Kackloudis, Senior Director of Marketing Carol Zimmer Clark and others to step down.
Another organization, the Queer Partnership for Black Liberation, also criticized Equitas’ apology in a statement to the Dispatch on Saturday. The group said it failed to meet the demands of its open letter, which the group presented on Thursday.
“We were glad to see a statement come out fairly quickly from Equitas,” the statement said. “We were also wholeheartedly underwhelmed by the content and lack of direct acknowledgment in the statement. Specifically, there was no direct apology for the culture that is present around racist and discriminatory acts of harm on former and current Black employees and Indigenous employees and employees of color. This is not something that will be appeased and then go away. The community is prepared to hold Equitas accountable, and most importantly, create safety for former and current BIPOC employees.” ethompson@dispatch.com @miss_ethompson