Blogger’s note: Joy KMT posted the statement below on the protest Facebook page, and with her permission, I am posting it here. I believe it adds to the dialogue offering some insight as to why this matters so much, at least to one individual, and why the selection of Iggy Azalea has been so controversial. One of the single most important things that ought to grow from this protest is for people to come understand what is happening and why. We have to hear and grasp the motivations and underlying feelings if we are to move ahead and affect change that makes what comes  better and more inclusive than what has been.

Good morning. It’s been a whirlwind the past few days. I want to take a moment and thank the people who are supporting this movement! I also want to clarify my personal position on why this is important.

As a queer black person, I do not have the option of being neutral. Because of who I am, my very existence is political. We live in a time, 2015, where black people have created the hashtags ?#?BlackLivesMatter?, because, incredulously, that is not apparent to everyone. Trans and queer people of color are among the most vulnerable to violence of the entire LGBTQIA community, particularly black trans women.

Pittsburgh has the lowest life expectancy for Black women of the top 25 metropolitan areas.

There can be no celebration of Pride without the acknowledgement that Pride is a celebration of an assertion of the right for LGBTQIA people to live fully as who we are, and that assertion, those uprisings, we’re led by trans and queer people of color.

I am not interested in combating homophobia with heteronormativity, or with assimilation. we are not all the same, our battles are not the same.
As foremother Audre Lorde says, “it is not our differences that divide us, it is our inability to recognize, accept and celebrate those differences.”

With Delta’s choice of iggy azalea, they have shown themselves to not recognize our differences, nor celebrate the multitude of experiences that are in the LGBTQIA community. It is true that you cannot please everybody. But what is also true is that when you claim to be the lead foundation that serves the entire LGBTQIA population in Pittsburgh, you cannot afford to move without deliberation, without consideration to the people that you serve. You cannot serve people that you erase. You cannot serve people that you ignore. You cannot serve people without actually listening to the people.

So good people, the movement continues. And we will create our own, where we can be celebrated for who we are fully, in ALL of our differences, without qualification.