Making history then and now
A brief (very brief) history of Pride and a call to action
If you don’t have time to read my full post, here’s the top level:
Showing up, marching, and putting our bodies in motion has always mattered in social protest movements. The history and tradition of Pride is an explicit example of how gathering IRL changed society. So in that spirit, make your signs, get out your sunscreen, and on Saturday June 14th take a stand against any of the many offenses being committed by our current administration. Plan to attend the No Kings protest in a city near you. For local friends, there are events planned in San Francisco, San Mateo, Sunnyvale, Palo Alto, and San Jose, just to name a few.
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During the summer of 1969, events at the Stonewall Inn in New York City marked a turning point in the gay rights movement.
In 1969 same-sex relationships were illegal, and from as early as the 1950’s a movement had been growing to put an end to these laws.
Since same-sex relationships were illegal, a gathering of people who participated in same-sex relationships was considered “disorderly” based on old prohibition laws. These laws prohibited serving alcohol in “disorderly” establishments (ie all gay bars), and so police raids on gay bars were not uncommon.
In June of 1969 the Stonewall Inn was one of the most popular gay bars in New York and over a series of six nights police raided the bar and arrested patrons. The queer community at Stonewall resisted. It is not clear how the more violent aspects of the confrontation between the police and the queer community escalated but by the sixth night a few stores in the Village were looted and the events were considered “riots.” By my reading, what occurred over these six nights was a series of acts of resistance against police harassment that resulted in an uprising.
The events at the Stonewall sparked a flash point in the gay rights movement, and the following year, on June 28, 1970 the first Pride parade marches were held in New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago.
Of note, and of personal importance to me and my family, the gay rights movement of this era sidelined the trans community. At Stonewall on the night of the riots, one aspect of the resistance took the form of trans women refusing to submit to “gender confirmation checks.” Considered too “out there” for a mainstream movement, the trans community was distanced from the movement and in a quite literal sense, the controversial times we are all living through right now represent unfinished business in the ongoing struggle for the queer community to establish full fledged human rights in the US.
Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, two transwomen who participated at Stonewall, continued to be involved in the gay rights movement throughout their lives. For trans writers who seek an MFA, there is a scholarship at the Bennington Writing Seminars, named the Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera Endowed Scholarship that seeks to fund emerging trans writers.
This time, let’s do our best not to leave anyone behind. Certainly, the administration has cast a wide net in its effort to restrain freedoms of all kinds: from self expression, to health care, to workers rights, and on and on…Let’s stand up and be counted. Attend a big rally or stop by a local rally. Either way, make your voice heard. This July 14th. Remind the world that the US is no country for a King.
If something in this post moved you, if you learned something new, if reading this made you feel more empowered to support the trans community, I hope you’ll consider sharing my free newsletter with a friend! My hope is to double my subscribers this month.
See you tomorrow! XO