I’ll keep this short because we have too much work to do. The root of Pride is an uprising. The root of Pride is “riots.” The root of Pride is queer people of color—especially black and brown transgender and gender non-conforming folks—fighting back against the police who regularly brutalized them under the guise of liquor license raids (among other bullshit).
Pride is not a party. Pride is not a parade. Pride is a revolution. And it’s ongoing.
And while all queer people continue to be vulnerable, queer people of color and especially transgender and gender non-conforming people of color and most especially black transgender women—in other words, all the parents of our revolution—are particularly and uniquely vulnerable. In fact, the risk of violence against the trans community is so great, the Human Rights Campaign has called it a national epidemic.
So, Pride is far from cancelled. What people in the United States and indeed across the world are doing right now—standing up to anti-black violence, speaking out against injustice, taking action for our black siblings—is exactly the kind of action Pride is rooted in.
Forget the parade and join the fight,
Jessica the Westchesbian
PS. Not sure what I’m talking about? Google “Stonewall Riots” or “Stonewall Uprising” or even just “Stonewall.”
P.P.S. Not sure how to join the fight? This Ways You Can Support the Black LGBTQ+ Community coverage from The Cut is a great start.
Jessica lives with her shiksa wife and geriatric cat in picturesque Tarrytown on the Hudson. Although a proud Westchesbian these days, Jessica grew up in Asheville, North Carolina, back when the opening of the Olive Garden and the 24-hour Walmart were big news. During business hours, Jessica’s a communications professional who translates highly technical concepts into clear, concise, colloquial language that media buyers and sellers can understand. Outside of business hours, she’s a poet, cat mom, wife, avid reader, and lover of questionable crime, sci-fi, and supernatural TV shows (preferably all in one), not necessarily in that order. Her poetry has appeared in Tin House, The Paris Review, LIT, and The Huffington Post, among others.