On June 28th, 1970, the first Pride marches in America were held in New York City and Los Angeles as part of Christopher Street Liberation Day, which commemorated the one-year anniversary of the six-day Stonewall Uprising. Sparked by a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, the Stonewall Uprising was initiated primarily by gay and trans people of color--most famously Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera--who were fed up with systemic racist, homophobic, and transphobic police harassment and violence. Though not the only such protest of the time, it is often seen as the beginning of the modern day queer rights movement.
Pride is a time for celebration, but also a time for remembrance of how far we’ve come and how far there is yet to go. The intersection of homophobia, transphobia, and race is ever-present in the ongoing fight for queer liberation. Black and brown trans folk continue to be subject to horrific levels of violence, with 2020 being the deadliest year on record. Transgender people are four times more likely than cisgender people to experience police violence, including sexual assault. According to Amnesty International, NYPD officers often fail to acknowledge the nature of hate crimes against LGBTQ+ people and have historically responded with victim-blaming and violence. Just last year, a crowd at the Queer Liberation March was pepper sprayed by police, while others were arrested at Washington Square Park. The recently announced ban of uniformed NYPD officers from the Pride parade through 2025 is the result of a years-long effort to create safer spaces for marginalized communities, particularly BIPOC and LGBTQ+ folks, who face ongoing police violence within Pride events and beyond.
We can support this effort in myriad ways. We can pressure our elected city officials over the next two weeks to defund the police and pass a budget for 2022 that advances racial justice. We can vote in the NYC primaries on June 22nd to ensure representatives have aligned stances on racial justice and LGBTQ+ rights and protections. And we can move money towards mutual aid funds and grassroots organizations that support and protect LGBTQ+ people of color. The first Pride was a riot, and we can honor that legacy through action.
In solidarity,
SURJ NYC
P.S. Early voting for the NYC primaries begins this Saturday, June 12th! Find your early voting poll site here.