#stonewall riots

[ivygorgon]

"No Pride for some of us without liberation for all of us." - Micah Bazant

EDIT: "Non-judgmental FYI that this quote was actually coined by white trans artist Micah Bazant and is often wrongfully attributed to Marsha P. Johnson! Nothing against the quote or its origins, they just aren't Johnson's words." @faerantstory

"The phrase 'No Pride For Some of Us Without Liberation For All of Us' was originally written by me, but has become globally attributed to Marsha. This attribution has made it much more meaningful and powerful for trans and queer communities, and I am happy for her to receive credit for it. I am unendingly grateful for all Marsha gave us, and for the countless other warriors who sacrificed their lives to create space for trans existence." - Micah Bazant

[animentality]

[queerasfact]

“The nights of Friday, June 27, 1969 and Saturday, June 28, 1969 will go down in history as the first time that thousands of Homosexual men and women went out into the streets to protest the intolerable situation which has existed in New York City for many years…” —Flier written by activist Craig Rodwell, 29 June 1969

Today marks 55 years since the famous Stonewall riots, which began with a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, an illegal gay bar in Greenwich, New York.

Influenced by a shift in the gay rights movement to a focus on pride rather than assimilation, queer patrons fought back violently, and continued to riot on subsequent nights.

One year on from the Stonewall riots, queer New Yorkers celebrated Christopher Street Liberation Day, an event which has transformed into the Pride marches we now see worldwide.

Learn more with our podcast on Stonewall!

[usnatarchives]

On June 28, 1969, the #Stonewall Riots began following a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, one of New York City's best-known LGBTQ clubs. Forty-seven years later, the site was declared a National Monument by Presidential Proclamation. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75315976

[squidhominid]

About Marsha P. Johnson

So, someone reblogged my Stonewall protest poster claiming that Marsha P. Johnson 'did not like being called a trans woman' and referring to her as a he/him drag queen, and I was initially going to look the other way, but it just, bothered me enough I finally wanted to say something about it.

The 1980s were a different time. Back then, the distinction between being trans and simply being in drag was a lot more fluid. Marsha P. Johnson was not 'not a trans woman', she simply drew a distinction that I don't think we would naturally come to today. That being, a continuum of identities between 'drag', what she called a 'transvestite', and what she called 'transsexual'.

To her, a 'drag queen' was someone who presented feminine some of the time, a 'transvestite' was someone who presented feminine all of the time, and a 'transsexual' was someone who medically transitioned. The term 'trans woman' was not in use at the time, and would not have occurred to her. She, personally, identified as a 'transvestite' under her definitions, and she used she/her pronouns, contrary to the insistence by this Tumblr user that she did not and that she 'did not like' the term trans woman being applied to her.

tl;dr? Please, god, learn some fucking history, and stop using a warped version of history to justify bigotry, because before you blocked me I had the chance to see some pretty nasty and blatantly transphobic stuff on your blog. Thanks.

[crowley-winter-boots]

PROTEST ON FEBUARY 5TH AT STATE CAPITALS. Unfortunately, I cannot go as I'll still be in school and I do not have transportation! Please spread the word to anyone you can. These protests are IMPORTANT and could very well, if successful, save what is left of America.

Donald Trump NEEDS to be out of office. He is a king at best, but well on his way to becoming a dictator. American principals include neither of these, yet people who claim to want to make America great again follow him like he's our savior. He is already destroying us, and will continue to do so because the people in power not only are letting him, but they WANT HIM TO.

BE SAFE AND REMEMBER, VIOLENCE IS A SOLUTION. IT WORKS FASTER AND IS MORE EFFECTIVE THAN WORDS. Not saying throw that molotov, but if it comes to it, get to throwing. Wear full face masks, even for just protesting, because even if you trick the AI into not recognizing you, cops can and will.

[nerdygaymormon]

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Ryan Adamczeski at The Advocate:

The National Parks Service has removed pages dedicated to historic transgender activists Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera three weeks after it removed all references to trans people from the Stonewall National Monument's website. The changes, first reported by NPR, include removing the activist's pages as well as those about queer history in Philadelphia, a now-closed Black LGBTQ+ bar in Washington D.C., and a gender-nonconforming preacher who lived during the eighteenth century. The outlet noted that some websites are still up, while others are not. Johnson's picture is still featured, though scrubbed of her biography and achievements. NPS removed the "T" from the "LGBTQ+" acronym as well as any references to trans people from the official Stonewall National Monument website last month. The erasure follows Donald Trump's executive orders denying the existence of trans people and removing them from other government websites along with LGBTQ+ resources. Prior to its revision, as recently as Wednesday, the NPS website introduction read, "Before the 1960s, almost everything about living openly as a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ+) person was illegal." Now it states, "Before the 1960s, almost everything about living openly as a lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB) person was illegal. The Stonewall Uprising on June 28, 1969 is a milestone in the quest for LGB civil rights and provided momentum for a movement."

The National Park Service’s heinous anti-trans purging of trans history marches on by removing the pages of trans history makers Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera.

[taylorklosscomeout138]

In the same rare blue folklore dress that she wore on 8/9 when Karlie was at eras and she played New Romantics.

Which was 89 shows ago.

Or 318 Business Days ago. (13 + 8/3)

And several artists apart of the New Romantics movement dropped music today ESPECIALLY Elton John. ("Goodbye yellow brick road", Wizard of Oz storyline)

But I'm supposed to not believe she's gonna play New Romantics tonight?

And mash it with the other song about Stonewall Riots, Cassandra, for max chaos?

"All the bricks they threw at me" x "When the first stone's thrown they're screaming. In the streets, there's a raging riot"

"The rumours are terrible and cruel but honey most of them are true" x "When the truth comes out it's quiet"

"It's poker he can't see it in my face" x "They knew, they knew, they knew the whole time"

"The best people in life are free" x "They filled my cell with snakes; I was in my tower" (locked up like Rapunzel in her tower very much not free, forced to hide her golden glowing secret)

JUST A THOUGHT. MANY THOUGHTS....

[citizenscreen]

Sometime after midnight on June 28, 1969, the Stonewall Riots began in NYC’s Greenwich Village. #OnThisDay

[socialjusticeinamerica]

😡

[nickysfacts]

Johnson sounded like such a kind and fun person to meet, it’s good to know her kindness lives on today through the people she helped inspire and empower!

🏳️‍🌈💐🏳️‍⚧️

[gayest-historian]

Events Leading to Stonewall

In honor of the Stonewall riots' anniversary I'd like to take a minute to talk about what led up to them.

The Stonewall riots, taking place June 28th, 1969, were a series of riots that started at the Stonewall Inn between police and LGBTQ+ protestors. The events leading up to them are just as important as their impact on today so a few of these events will be discussed in this post. Obviously I cannot cover them all but I plan on talking about more in their own posts.

After WW2 many Americans began efforts to restore the country to it's pre-war state and prevent change from occurring in the social order. During this time any groups considered "um-american" were deemed security risks, among these groups were gay men and lesbians. The reasoning behind this was that, according to the US State Department, they were deemed susceptible to blackmail. According to a report chaired by Clyde R. Hoey: "It is generally believed that those who engage in overt acts of perversion lack the emotional stability of normal persons" These actions led to 1,700 federal job applications being denied, 4,380 people being discharged from the military, and 420 individuals being fired from federal jobs, all due to suspicions of homosexuality.

In 1952 homosexuality was listed in the DSM as a mental disorder by the American Psychiatric Association. The reasoning behind this choice was a belief that homosexuality stems from an unreasonable fear of the opposite sex. Despite numerous studies contradicting this belief, including those of Evelyn Hooker, the APA did not remove homosexuality from the DSM until 1974. The lasting damage of this decision can be seen even today with many queer people still being seen as mentally ill for their identity.

The Hays code was originally implemented in 1934, also being known as the Motion Picture Production Code. Created by a Catholic man named Martin Quigley in 1929 the purpose of the Hays code was to enforce "morals" in the film industry in order to not badly influence american citizens, particularly children. Some examples of Inclusions prohibited by the Hays code include: Profanity, ridicule of the clergy and seuxla perversion (including homosexuality). The frustration regarding these rules could be felt at the time within the queer community and even today with tropes like queer-coded villains.

I hope this post helped to provide some context surrounding the events that kickstarted the Stonewall riots. Looking back at these events gives us both context for how far we've come aswell as how far we still need to go.

[mr-paxton]

MIDNIGHT COWBOY

[theivorybilledwoodpecker]

Stonewall: Resistance

Many of us are horrified and angry over the removal of "TQ" from the Stonewall websites.

I saw an idea on LinkedIn for protesting this.

Go to the Stonewall website.

Scroll until you see "Was This Page Helpful?"

3. Select No, and when prompted, write that you oppose the erasure of trangender and queer people.