June is Pride Month. The 1969 Stonewall Uprising in New York was a flashpoint when gay folks in this country got sick and tired of being harassed, humiliated and assaulted because of their sexual orientation and gender identities. The successful resistance was celebrated the following year and has since spread to many parts of the world.
The uprising became a pivotal kick off of a movement that evolved to include different identities–lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgendered, questioning, intersexual and asexual (LGBTQIA). It was a big boost to the struggle for equal rights and dignity of a historically marginalized population.
One may think that given the discrimination and hatred directed at gay people that the movement claiming to represent them would be acutely aware of how isms hurt and divide. But our movements are microcosms of our society and therefore susceptible to the divisions of race, gender and class, if we are not paying attention.
Around the country, many Pride organizations are run like corporations. The leadership is almost always white, upper mobility men. The result is separate Black and Brown Pride groups planning activities that best reflect their realities.
Recently, further divisions occurred inside the movement over the question of (gay) police participating in the parades. There’s also the issue of police being used as parade security. The two issues don’t go over well with Black gays who are also part of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Violence against transgendered people has surged, particularly the targeting of Black and Latina trans women. Yet the very movement which should be lifting up this tragic trend often refuses to acknowledge the deaths and demand accountability or justice.
One such situation came to a head in Los Angeles when a BLM solidarity march was planned ahead of the annual Pride march. One thing led to another. Gerald Garth, one of the few Blacks on the official Pride planning broke ranks and formed a new group of Black LGBTQ leaders. The group announced a new march, separate from the official one, and called it “All Black Lives Matter.” Indeed, they do.
White-led Pride organizations are part of a bigger, more diverse LGBTQ movement. They do have influence and their power is being contested. Being Black and gay is rough enough. Not being able to find refuge and support within your own movement is totally unacceptable.
This moment in the country brings hope and many possibilities. To actualize a new vision means that we have to clean up our organizations from places of faith to unions to businesses to community groups. When these units are working to achieve the highest democratic and equitable goals, you’ll see a ripple effect.
The moment calls for an overhaul on many different levels if we are to be united around common values and a vision for our collective future. When we work for transformation at these levels, the change inevitably manifests in our social movements. These sectors are all a part of our movement. These movements should be working for transformative change in the broader society.
“Within each one of us there is some piece of humanness that knows we are not being served by the machine which orchestrates crisis after crisis and is grinding all our futures into dust.” These are words of wisdom from Audre Lorde that we should remember beyond Pride month.