Who Threw The First Brick? (Why Queer People Can’t Be Anti-Black)
By: Summer Wadleigh
Even as the mass amount of media attention surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement begins to slowly fade, it is important that this matter remains prevalent and consistently spoken about. The recent surge of protesting and rioting has acted as a test of morality for each person across the world, and it has instigated important conversations within other minority communities. As sensible as it would be for minority communities to uplift and mutually support each other, there is always a set of outliers. This article is going to touch on a little bit of LGBTQ history that displays the true importance of people of color within this community and how trans women of color broke countless boundaries so that queer people could love freely.
Marsha P. Johnson, a gay liberation activist during the civil rights era, was a trans woman of color who played a defining role during the Stonewall Riots of 1969. These riots took place at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar located in lower Manhattan after the police began to raid the Inn. During this time, LGBTQ people were not openly accepted, and this was one of the few places where queer people could practice public displays of affection with their partners such as slow dancing and holding hands. On June 28th, 1969, the Inn was raided by police due to the fact that at this time, being gay was only legal in the state of Illinois. This resulted in 5 days of consistent rioting led by LGBTQ activists such as Stormé DeLarverie and Morty Manford.
During a time where being queer, as well as not dressing according to your gender was illegal, Marsha P. Johnson threw the first brick, or shot glass back at a police officer. She could no longer stand for the social discrimination faced by people throughout the country afraid to love openly. Stonewall paved the way for activist organizations such as the Gay Liberation Front and GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation). It also resulted in the first ever pride parade occurring on its year anniversary throughout New York City, called “Christopher Street Liberation Day”. This one action paved the way for every activist that followed her, and every activist still working to finish what she began on that night.
Nearly 50 years later, rioting within minority communities in the fight for equality has far from ceased. America has been built on systems not suited to benefit anybody that isn’t white, male, and heterosexual. Dismantling this system, so far, has taken hundreds of years and some of the most progressive change has derived from acts of violence. Sometimes justice cannot be simply asked for, and in many instances, there had to be a form of causality before a positive result was seen. My question to those who are still against the rioting occurring right now: Are you just as outraged at the countless number of black lives taken by the police every single day that you are at people rioting – because they’re tired of seeing their people die?
To each person within the community who still does not support or fully understand black activism, remember who contributed to establishing your most basic freedoms. Black trans women such as Marsha P. Johnson and countless others practiced activism not just for the LGBTQ people within their time, but for every single person that came after them. As a gay person myself, their sacrifice has given me as well as every other queer person a chance at one of the most beautiful things: authenticity. Black people have done so much within this community, and now it is more than necessary to show up for those who have showed up for our rights time and time again. Within the queer community, there is simply no place for anything but genuine support and solidarity with Black people as they continue to fight for their lives.
Sources:
- History.com
- i-d.vice.com