Minneapolis, MN – For the seventh year running, community members disrupted the Twin Cities Pride parade, June 30, to protest the inclusion of cops and corporations. Their inclusion comes at the expense of queer community members who want the event to honor the spirit of radical resistance Pride came out of and to continue the fight for LGBTQ liberation. This year, more than 1000 protesters marched with the Taking Back Pride Coalition for not only LGBTQ liberation, but especially for Palestinian liberation.

TC Pride is one of the largest such events in the country, drawing hundreds of thousands of people. Taking Back Pride, a coalition initiated by Twin Cities Coalition for Justice (TCC4J), took the street in protest ahead of the corporate-sponsored parade.

The first Taking Back Pride protest focused on demanding an end to police presence in the parade and the festival, but organizers soon expanded their demands to address Pride’s failure to address the needs of Black, brown and indigenous community members, especially trans folks. They have long called on Pride to break ties with the corporations that dominate the parade and festival.

As TCC4J organizer Loretta VanPelt put it, “These corporations funnel millions of dollars into conservative campaigns and laws, they pollute the planet, they support war and genocide. Then once a year they throw a rainbow on their logo and think we’ll just forget all that. But we remember and we want to remind people that our rights as LGBT people are far from secure and that these corporations only care about us when we’re profitable.”

The first Pride march was held in New York City in 1970, marking one year after the Stonewall rebellion, when LGBTQ folks fought back against a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar. The confrontation lasted five nights where, with bricks and molotov cocktails, the community fought back against police terror. This was the time when the LGBTQ liberation made strong connections to other movements, from the Black liberation movement to the movement to end U.S. war in Vietnam. Cities across the country continue to celebrate Pride, but most of these events, including in Minneapolis, have devolved to a party for tourists instead of a political event commemorating the Stonewall uprising against police brutality.

Hundreds of anti-trans bills are set to pass in the next year. Black and brown people continue to be brutalized and killed by police. 40,000 Palestinians have been murdered since October 7. Taking Back Pride Coalition organizers say TC Pride is complicit in these injustices, through silence, inaction and even making space for the FBI, the National Guard, and weapons manufacturers to participate.

A statement by organizers said, “We refuse to allow this disgusting pinkwashing of genocide to continue unchallenged. We march for a free Palestine and an end to all imperialist occupations, for substantive accountability for those impacted by police brutality through community control, for our queer and trans siblings who have been stolen by violence, and for true queer liberation. We march to honor the legacy of Black and brown trans women and nonbinary people who fought for the rights and acceptance of all LGBTQ people.”

Led by Bikers Riding Against Police Brutality (BRAPB), a social justice motorcycle group, and Fury du Nord – a queer and trans motorcycle riding club, protesters marched the same route as the corporate parade, to the beat of the Yalla Drum group and the Unlawful Assembly Marching Band. The corporate parade was delayed, as protesters stopped every few blocks for speakers and performance. One powerful stop was a die-in, where the names of trans people killed in the last year were read aloud. Parade organizers and security complained about delays, but most onlookers were supportive, joining in many of the chants. Some even left the sidelines and joined the march.

The protest ended with multiple actions inside the massive Pride festival at Loring Park. First, protesters took over the Stonewall Stage. Organizer Jae Yates explained the reason for the protest, and then Levi Lake spoke in tribute to Liara Tsai, a trans DJ who was killed just the week before.

Smaller groups broke off to disrupt problematic festival vendors. The FBI and the National Guard both had booths, aiming to recruit from the LGBTQ community. Protesters blocked their booths with massive banners and addressed the crowds of people about their role in oppressing people’s movements at home and abroad. Another group disrupted the Target corporation photobooth, by displaying images of Palestinian martyrs as a protest of the U.S.-backed genocide.

In addition to TCC4J, the Taking Back Pride Coalition includes Anti War Committee MN, Bikers Riding Against Police Brutality, Climate Justice Committee, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, MN Abortion Action Committee, MN Immigrant Rights Action Committee, MN Workers United, People’s Pride, UMN Students for a Democratic Society, Unlawful Assembly Marching Band, and Women Against Military Madness.

#MinneapolisMN #TakingBackPride #TCC4J #WAMM #AntiWarCommitteeMN #Pride #LGBTQLiberation #StandUpFightBack #FreePalestine #MIRAC #SDS #UMNSDS #TwinCitiesPride #TwinCities #Stonewall

Tallahassee, FL – On June 30, two days after the 55th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, students and community members gathered at Tallahassee Students for a Democratic Society’s annual pride talent show, one of the longest-running non-corporate pride events in the city. 

SDS organized the talent show to celebrate the historic victories that queer people have won through mass struggle, keeping the spirit of Stonewall alive while resisting rainbow capitalism.

Students enjoyed a wide range of performances from their queer classmates, centering the focus on the real heart of Pride - popular struggle, by and for the queer community, against oppression at the hands of the capitalist system. There are no Chase logos or Raytheon employees here – the students are standing up to corporate co-opting and carrying Stonewall’s torch of liberation.

The event was hosted by local drag queen Hahina Hollywood,who recounted their experiences as an organizer with SDS through the years from the fight against Florida’s anti-queer legislation to the movement for divestment from Israel. Their introduction was followed by music, poetry, comedy and dance.

The SDS pride talent show is one of Tallahassee’s largest Pride Month events, as the city government’s pride events are held in the spring academic semester to maximize profits and disconnect Tallahassee from the global queer movement. SDS presents an alternative for Tallahassee, a beacon of authentic queer culture and resistance. As SDS organizer Joelle Nunez said before her performance, “It is our duty as queer and trans people to know our roots and resist oppression everywhere.”

In July, Tallahassee SDS will be sending a contingent to the March on the RNC in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. For more information on the march, go to marchonrnc2024.org. To join or support the Tallahassee contingent, reach out to @tallysds on Instagram.

#TallahasseeFL #TallySDS #Pride #TakeBackPride #SDS #MarchOnTheRNC #Stonewall #LGBTQLiberation

Tallahassee, FL – Tallahassee residents assembled at 12:30 p.m. at Cascades Park, June 28 to launch a march to the capitol. Organizers and volunteers with the Tallahassee Community Action Committee (TCAC) pre-decorated the capitol steps and breezeway with rainbow flags, banners, signs and hand-painted portraits to honor the Black and brown working-class trans women who led the Stonewall Riots in New York City 51 years ago. Organizers distributed masks, water, snacks, bumper stickers and printed copies of Fight Back! to the 150-plus people in attendance. Attendees spread out across the entire capitol lawn to abide by COVID-19 safe-distancing guidelines.

From the massive steps leading up to the Historic Capitol Building, speakers imparted the history of Pride and of Stonewall, including Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson’s long and unfinished fights for justice around housing, police brutality and the criminal justice system, and access to public places. Speakers emphasized that in this moment of broad visibility, people will not be placated by empty gestures that make no material changes to how local policing criminalizes Black, brown, queer, working-class people. Attendees were invited to join the ongoing work of defending the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community with local organizations such as TCAC, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Gender Odyssey, and Dream Defenders. These groups and others, led by working-class trans members of TCAC, recently passed a robust and inclusive city ordinance banning the torturous abuses known as ‘conversion therapy.’ TCAC is in motion to ban conversion therapy at the county level as well, in addition to leading local demands for community control of police through a freely elected Civilian Police Accountability Council.

“A riot is the language of the unheard and Stonewall was a riot!” emphasized event volunteer Laura McTighe, TCAC member, Queer Tallahassee co-founder, and assistant professor of religion at FSU. “These words are more than a slogan. They are a strategy and a call to action. When Delilah Pierre was on the mic, she drew us into the litany of everyday abuses that Black trans and queer people are facing here in Tallahassee, into the great and unimaginable ones. And she opened a portal to us to feel with her the cumulative impact of these abuses. Because the point when our transcestors picked up a brick at Stonewall, it wasn’t in response to a first abuse. It wasn’t even the hundredth. It was the millionth abuse. Enough was enough! And here today, enough is enough. We’ve got our backs, because we really are all we got. That is the revolutionary promise we made at BLM Pride, and we’ll be working to make it reality for all our Black trans siblings going forward.”

Hannah Schwadron, TCAC member, Sunday Collective member, and associate professor of dance at FSU stated. “Yes, Pride, indeed! Pride for this town’s real talk and soul prowess, Pride for Stonewall as a living practice and no small slogan, Pride for the radical care of our Black and trans leaders and the orgs they lead, and pride in amplifying the voices, needs, and demands of the unheard.”

In addition to speakers and chant leaders, the rainbow stage was graced by dance, poetry, song, guitar, and the undisputed highlight of the event, an exquisite drag performance by Tallahassee’s beloved Sassy Black. “Drag is usually done in the dark – at night, indoors, lit by spotlight. To see my own cousin take that stage in public, in broad daylight, and to see them met with absolute love and enthusiasm was beyond beautiful!” said TCAC founding member Trish Brown, who is also running for Tallahassee City Commission Seat 2 on a progressive, BLM, community control of police platform. “I want our city to be as diverse, open, affirming and inclusive as this stage here is today.”

And from the mouths of babes: “I was concerned about everything,” said Knox Lee, age 9, as he took a brief respite in an organizer’s AC-equipped vehicle standing by. “I really wanted to do something, so I asked my dad, what can we do? He said we could come here and so we did. I’m glad we are here. Everyone is so kind! I just want good things for everyone.”

Satya Stark-Bejnar (they/he) is an activist based in Tallahassee, Florida.

#TallahasseeFL #InJusticeSystem #OppressedNationalities #WomensMovement #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #ChicanoLatino #PoliceBrutality #Stonewall #Pride #Antiracism #TallahasseeCommunityActionCommittee

New York, NY – On day five of the protests that have overtaken New York, one took place at the Stonewall Inn. On June 2 at 5 p.m., over 7000 protesters gathered at the historic location of the Stonewall Riots to honor Black trans lives lost to police violence.

The protest was one of the later ones in the day and had to be moved back from its original starting time as Governor Cuomo enforced a new week-long 8 p.m. curfew.

The speakers covered the gamut of topics but focused on how the police targeted Black trans people, and how cops have never been friends to the LGBTQ community. Two names that continued to come up were those of Tony McDade and Nina Pop.

Tony McDade was a Black trans man who was brutally gunned down May 27 by the Tallahassee, Florida police. Their excuse was that he was a suspect in a stabbing investigation. The details around McDade’s murder are still murky as laws on Florida protect officers involved in shootings.

Nina Pop was a Black trans woman murdered in Saint Louis on May 3. While the Saint Louis cops vacillate on whether her murder was a hate crime, it took them weeks to make an arrest.

Protesters understood that these two examples showed how the police is either negligent or overtly murderous towards trans people.

Throughout the event, there were chants of “Black lives matter” or “No justice, no peace! Fuck these racist ass police!”

The rally ended with the thousands joining the rest of the city as they demanded justice for George Floyd and an end to police brutality. As the protesters marched down Grove Street, a UPS truck driver got caught in the fray. Rather than try to barrel through the crowd, the driver joined the protesters and helped some get on top of his truck.

The protests have broad support among workers in NYC, as the bus drivers refuse to drive those arrested to precincts, construction workers clap and work to the beat of the chants, and UPS drivers join in during a march.

#NewYorkNY #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #Stonewall

New York, NY – On June 12, at 6 p.m., over 600 people gathered at the steps of the historic Stonewall Inn to mourn the lives lost in the Orlando Massacre that happened earlier that day.

In the early hours of June 12, Omar Mateen entered the popular LGBTQ Orlando nightclub, Pulse, and opened fire. The club was hosting a Latin night that featured a trans-woman headline. Mateen killed 49 people and injured 53 before being shot by the cops. While the bourgeois media assumed that his motives were linked to Islam, reports from Mateen’s family state that he was never religious. Closer investigation revealed that Mateen worked for G4S, a security systems company that provides surveillance equipment to Israeli prisons. Pictures of Mateen wearing NYPD shirts also surfaced and made the rounds on social media. It seems likely that his motives were closely related to homophobia rather than religious belief.

The vigil was organized by a local New York group Queer Nation-NY and several other community organizers. The topic of the speeches ranged from expressing sentiments of remorse, sadness and love, to calls to action and revolution.

Ava Lipatti, from Students for a Democratic Society, gave a powerful speech, in which halfway through broke out in a round of chants denouncing the racist police, who during this peaceful vigil wore riot gear. Lipatti said, “What we have to remember today is that the system that prompted the shooter to carry out this tragedy is the same system that perpetuates genocide in the Middle East. And, it has been found out that the shooter was not a practicing Muslim, but in fact was a fan of the NYPD. We cannot let this tragedy be a pretext for more war and genocide. What we need now more than ever is solidarity between the queer community and the Muslim community.”

As the sun set over Christopher Street, the attendees had heavy hearts but were galvanized to keep fighting for justice.

#NewYorkNY #ChicanoLatino #Stonewall #Orlando #OmarMateen

Stonewall: The Birth of the Modern Queer Liberation Movement

Thirty-five years ago on June 27, 1969, the LGBT community fought back in a new way. In the face of a brutal police raid on the Stonewall Inn, gays, lesbians and drag queens waged a historic fight back against police brutality and harassment. This group of working class, mostly black and Latino, queers fought against a police raid with rocks and bottles. Police attempts to put down the violence that they began failed. The intensity of the rebellion increased as police backup arrived. Word quickly spread throughout Greenwich Village about the events at the Stonewall and supporters came to aid in the fight.

The rebellion was not an isolated incident of militancy. Gays and lesbians had been organizing for decades. However, the public, out in the open and militant nature of the Stonewall Rebellion acted as a spark for the LGBT community in New York and internationally. During the next five days, demonstrators returned by the thousands. They called for an end to police repression. Leaflets demanded, “Get the Mafia and cops out of gay bars!” The community mobilized for ‘Gay Power.’

The Future for the Queer Movement

The battle against discrimination and for civil rights continues today. The issue that has created the most current controversy is that of gay marriage. This is an issue of civil rights. The federal government extends 1,425 benefits and privileges only to heterosexual married couples. This is wrong. The issue of gay marriage is being used by the Republican Party as a wedge to divide the people. They want people to focus on it instead of the economic and social crisis at home and the failure of U.S. policy in the Middle East. All progressive forces must continue to demand that the victory in Massachusetts be extended throughout the country.

Unfortunately, much conservative talk about family values has buried unique and successful thinking about love, family and commitment in the queer community. Historically, the LGBT community has defined relationships and family much more broadly than the nuclear family made up of two adults whose main purpose is to birth and raise children. Friends, relatives, children and romantic partners all fall under the definition of family in the queer community. It is important that we don’t lose this history when we advocate for the civil right of marriage for everyone. We must also remember that the queer movement stands for social change reaching far beyond the marriage issue – change that will benefit everyone, from the right to privacy in the workplace to affordable healthcare for all.

This summer there will be festivals and marches throughout the country celebrating the victories of the LGBT community. It is important to continue to fight to expand civil rights by continuing the spirit and legacy of Stonewall!

#UnitedStates #Commentary #Editorials #Stonewall #sameSexMarriage