Open Letter: To the Community that Needs it
On June 28th, 1969, a trans-led riot broke out at the Stonewall Inn between the QTPOC community and the police. This six-day uprising was not instantaneous or planned but a result of the swell of outrage brewing in Black and Brown queer communities from the continuous abuse and violation of them by the police and society. In recent years, activists have used this example of queer resistance in the same ways they do with MLK Jr. No honest critique of the oppression of marginalized communities, but selectively picking and choosing the parts of their truth that align with the narrative they are trying to spin. They put Mother Marsha’s name in their mouths without acknowledging the fact that she died of homicide, and the killer remains unknown. Or that Sylvia Rivera died poor and forgotten. Despite the professed importance of this point in QTPOC history, the lesson is lost. It is easy to point the finger at systems and people in power. Still, all too often, our self-appointed allies a...