Category — Pride

As we approach another PRIDE season, with all the white-washing, revisionist and assimilation hoopla about PRIDE and LGBT rights;  revolutionary queers must remember our roots and the many struggles and rebellions which paved the way for us to be visible, to be out and to celebrate our Queer Pride.  For me personally, I have been reading and re-reading the many accounts of the primarily young street people, be they trans, gay, lesbian, that fought for Power to ALL the People (a common chant used by Sylvia).  At the center of these struggles was the Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries (S.T.A.R.), a group of young street transvestites whose mission proclaimed an end to the injustices of deadly prison conditions, daily police harassment, a hostile and malevolent legal and mental health system, discrimination against street transvestites in employment and housing.  The key visionaries of S.T.A.R. (Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson) envisioned a group and home for the abandoned street transvestite youths; and this organization stood for a social revolution and a dismantling of the very state institutions of a capatalistic system and society that was directly responsible for many of these horrific oppressions.

I have copied below Jimmy Centola’s poem written in the seventies called the “Divas of Sheridan Square” which pays homage to the denizens of Sheridan Square, Marsha “Pay it No Mind” Johnson [and Sylvia Rivera] among them!

THE DIVAS OF SHERIDAN SQUARE

HAVE YOU SEEN ALL THE DIVAS OF SHERIDAN SQUARE

KROOZIN DOWN TO THE RIVER BY MORTON STREET PIER

SOME ARE DARK, TOUGH AND TAKI, SOME FLAWLESSLY FAIR

I AINT DISHIN

JUST WISHIN

I COULD BE STANDIN THERE

DEAR MISS LANCE, TALL AND TRASHY AND EVER SO PROUD

SHE’S STILL KROOZIN AND LOOSING AND BEING QUITE LOUD

AS SHE SWIHSES BY GAYLY ON HER PINK FAIRY CLOUD

SHE’S A MYSTIC MIRAGE

TO THE WHOLE JOHN WAYNE CROWD

ARE THERE THOSE HOT LEATHER NUMBERS STILL DOIN THE ROCK

ARE THE STREET PEOPLE KROOZIN, THEIR BLUES SHOVED IN HOCK

EACH ONE PAYIN HIGH DUES

IN A HIGH CULTURE SHOCK

IS MISS MARSHA STILL TIPPIN AND SPREADIN GAY JOYS

AINT A THING THAT SHE’S MISSIN, CANT GET FROM THE BOYS

EITHER WORKING THE HIGHWAY OR CHECKING THE SCENE

MISS THING ALWAYS SPARES CHANGE

FOR SOME STONE DYING QUEEN

IS THE FAIR ROLLERINA STILL SKATING AROUND

IS SHE STILL MAKING MAGIC ALL OVER THE TOWN

SHE CAN ROLL UP A RAINBOW AND ROCK IT BACK DOWN

IN HER WHITE FAIRY GOWN

IS MISS BAMBI STILL SLEEPING ALL OVER THE STREET

CAN I STILL COP SOME POPPERS WITH ALL THE ELITE

ARE THE OLD GIRLS STILL TRIPPING, THE CHICKENS STILL SWEET

MISSING ALL THAT’S DISCREET

HAVE YOU SEEN ALL THE DIVAS OF SHERIDAN SQUARE

KROOZIN DOWN TO THE RIVER BY MORTON STREET PIER

SOME ARE DARK, TOUGH AND TAKI, SOME FLAWLESSLY FAIR

I AINT DISHIN

JUST WISHIN

I COULD BE STANDIN THERE

[Read more →]

From “Notes From Hel,” by Helen Ubinas

Be sure to read the comments for a more thorough, but still incomplete, fleshing out of the issue. The flag was raised again yesterday, June 24th.

If you were at Thursday night’s LGBT event at city hall, I hope you got a good shot of the pride flag.

Because it was abruptly taken down Friday afternoon.

Want to know who to thank, city hall sources said?

Find the rest of the entry here. *For “allies” and “advocates” (and apologists): how to avoid screwed up conversations like that in the comments section here.

Updates here and here.

And, on a related note, check out the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays here.

Originally posted at http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2009/06/105851.html

Gang of queers force Nazi out of Albany Pride march.

We found 41 year old “Spanish Blue Blood,” a self proclaimed
“stormtrooper” of the National Socialist Movement and senior moderator
of the NSM’s official party forum, sitting on a bus bench waiting for
a crew that never showed. The second he saw us he split for the street
but didn’t get far til we caught up with him and gave him what he
deserved.

“Spanish Blue Blood,” who lives in the Colonie area of Albany, had
been trying for weeks to draw up enough people to stage a counter
protest of Albany’s Capital Pride march but apparently he couldn’t
even get a single person out. He recently celebrated his 41st birthday
on June 9th so we delivered some belated gifts-in the form of tightly
balled fists. The gang beat him until the cops showed and we made our
way back into the park with no arrests.

-A motley crew of queers, anti-fascists, and anarchists

http://www.bostondykemarch.com/

This year’s Boston Dyke March is on Friday, June 12, 2009 at 6pm.
Please sign up on our meetup site and/or facebook profile to keep up to date.

Every year, we gather at the Boston Common Gazebo at 6:00 p.m. The march route is posted here.

Everyone is invited and welcome to march.

Noho PRIDE MOVIE AND CANDLELIGHT VIGIL

Friday May 1st, 7:00 pm
First Churches, Main Street, Northampton
Admission is free.
Candlelight vigil to follow. Please bring candle, if  you

“Dangerous Living:Coming Out in the Developing World”

Dangerous Living: Coming Out in the Developing World is the first documentary to deeply explore the lives of gay and lesbian people in non-western cultures. Traveling to five different continents, we hear the heartbreaking and triumphant stories of gays and lesbians from Egypt, Honduras, Kenya, Thailand and elsewhere, where most occurrences of oppression receive no media coverage at all. By sharing the personal stories coming out of developing nations, Dangerous Living sheds light on an emerging global movement striving to end discrimination and violence against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people.
click for documentary details

Stonewall Warriors of the Boston International Center presents:

Struggle in Lavender and Red!

Harvey Milk, the Coors Boycott, and the Stonewall Rebellion, Queers fighting back against the right wing-1969-to the present. An LGBT history slide-show/video documentary.

Saturday, Jan 3rd -7:00 pm. The Action Center, 284 Amory St. (The Brewery), Jamaica Plain. This is located 2 blocks from Stony Brook T stop. Orange Line, (next to the ULA Cafe. The Action Center is wheel chair accessible. A donation is requested.

The program is held as a fundraiser for Join the Impact/MA, (stop prop.8) and the Women’s Fight Back Network. (WFN) Mass. Economic State of Emergency / “Restore our Heat and Lights Campaign.”)

Struggle in Lavender and Red features never before-seen photo’s, archival material and videos that document the successful gay fight- back against the 1978 anti-gay Briggs Initiative in California. (as depicted in Milk)

[Read more →]

One Opinion of Coming Out & Pride After Living “Straight”

by Kyle S. Smith ed: submitted to qwb for posting…

Coming out stories are regularly seasoned with tales of fear, joy, acceptance, pain, ups and downs, and so on. Mine is no different and I’m glad. I’m also glad that today there are finally more forums, like this one, for discussion and open dialogue about what it means to be a homosexual while still being thought of as more than just our sexuality.

As I look over at my right wrist, I see a rainbow colored rubber wrist band. The word “PRIDE” is in capital letters for anyone to see and notice. The only time I’ve removed in the past year-plus has been to shower. To me, that’s part of what Pride means: 24-7, period. So I’m out, proud, and participating in the gay rights movement. But, what does it mean to be proud? [Read more →]

“Happy Pride, everyone!”

The following article was written by William Urich, with grateful acknowledgment from additional contributors to the Human Rights Forum held during an Annual General Meeting of InterPride: Dmitri Bartenev, Moscow Pride; Tomasz Baczkowski, Warsaw Pride, Rosanna Flamer-Caldera, Equal Ground, Sri Lanka; Oscar Ataderro, ProGay, Manilla, the Philippines; Nada Raphael, HELEM, Beruit and Montreal (Diverscite); Aidan Dunn, San Francisco

Yes, Happy Pride. It’s the familiar greeting you hear repeatedly all day at the once a year festival you go to to buy GLBTIQXYZ-themed chatchkas, lavender candles, buttons, the occasional piece of jewelry and bumper stickers, and to enjoy a beer or share recent gossip with friends. You walk around with your dog, who might be wearing a rainbow collar or hankie. You enjoy watching a parade and might even cheer the contingent of queer police officers who pass by as active participants in the Pride Parade. You hear gay and lesbian-related messages and music from queer (and supportive) speakers and musicians on stage. You see folks you know, or those you only see out at such events. But you see people. Friendly people. Lots of people. People like you. They’re all doing the same thing you’re doing: being seen strutting your Pride and enjoying a peaceful day. Fear is the farthest thing from your mind. [Read more →]