Queer Liberation March takes the streets in Madison, WI for 2nd year
Madison, WI – Several hundred Madisonians took to the streets on Saturday, June 13, for the second annual Queer Liberation March, where they uplifted demands to defend bodily autonomy.
First among the demands of the event was to “Protect trans youth.” This demand is raised as groups like the Transgender Resistance Action Committee and Reproductive Justice Action-Milwaukee continue to fight against Wisconsin healthcare authorities who complied with orders from the Trump administration by “pausing” gender affirming care and have silently refused to restore that care as the orders are found to be illegal.
After listing members of the UW Hospitals and Clinics Authority Board by name to an enthusiastic crowd, Emma Hargrove from the Transgender Resistance Action Committee said, “We have to make them feel the world outside of their home offices. The world they wreck. The people they hurt. I want them to be ashamed, and soon I want them to be nervous.”
Endorsing organizations also demanded “Healthcare for all” and to “Empower queer workers,” with the latter specifying the need to reverse Scott Walker’s Act 10 and “right to work,” as well as the reinstatement of Wisconsin’s prevailing wage law.
Along the march from McPike Park to the capitol, rejection of the backward Trump administration resonated among the crowd and with excited passersby who voiced their explicit support. Chants of “We won’t go back!” and “Don’t trust Trump’s lies!” were felt deeply by many attendees.
After a stop at the city county building, where protesters chalked the sidewalk with demands and pro-LGBTQ messages, the march proceeded through the Dane County Farmer’s Market where the Dane County Sheriff’s Office, Madison Police Department, and other agencies were using the “Safety Saturday” educational event led by the city of Madison Fire Department to display militarized vehicles and engage in recruitment efforts. As the hundreds of marchers passed by these booths they chanted “Fuck 12” and “We are TR!”, the latter being a chant popularized after the 2015 murder of Tony Robinson Jr. by MPD Officer Matt Kenny.
The event concluded on the steps of the capitol, with a speech from Milcah Rimmer of Freedom Inc., who wielded the famous quote by Assata Shakur to remind the crowd, “It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win!” Organizers affirmed that the Queer Liberation March will continue to be an annual event, free from cops and corporate influence.
The march was organized by a committee of LGBTQ community members and allies, including members of the Wisconsin district of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Madison Students for a Democratic Society, the Transgender Resistance Action Committee, Madison Area Democratic Socialists of America, and the South Central Federation of Labor, among others. Additional endorsements included Freedom Inc., who fights for Black and Southeast Asian Liberation, and against Queer and Gender injustice, as well as several Trade Unions and Cooperatives.