Bottom photo by Jay Blotcher, selfie with ACT
UP membera Carlos Valentin and Jamie Leo, and other snapshot of heroes from the #queerliberationmarch.
The Judson Community in action:
"We marched toward liberation today, for over sixty city blocks, and it was stunning.
Thank you for your marching, for your singing, and for your trailblazing, both in carrying the memories and icons of our queer saints of the past and in paving the way for our queer saints to come.
Beloved and proud,
Micah"
Scenes from Reclaim Pride by Ken Schles
On the way to the Reclaim Pride
March on Sunday, I put on a pin for my friend Keith Cylar, my old friend from
ACT UP and Housing Works.
In addition,
I carried a sign with a photo of
Bob Kohler, a Stonewall veteran who stayed active within countless movements,
including ACT UP, speaking out for homeless youth, the people who rioted until
his last breath. He taught me more about
movements than anyone I know, reminding us that Stonewall meant fighting back. It also meant building bridges between causes,
something we did all weekend, connecting the old spirit of Gay Liberation Front with
today’s movements. Rather than
nostalgia, Reclaim Pride was a declaration.
My Stonewall begins with Bob and his stories.
"The street was broken glass," he recalled of those days in June of 1969, outside the Stonewall.
"The Stonewall window was smashed and there were cops all standing around like storm troopers.
You'd look a block away and still see trash cans smoldering."
"The street was broken glass," he recalled of those days in June of 1969, outside the Stonewall.
"The Stonewall window was smashed and there were cops all standing around like storm troopers.
You'd look a block away and still see trash cans smoldering."
Sunday, it extended from Brooklyn
to Sheridan Square,
From the West Village to Central
Park, and back to Brooklyn.
Walking to the march from Brooklyn, a man stopped me on the sidewalk.
“Is that Keith Cylar?” he asked,
pointing to my pin.
I knew Keith, worked with him.
Keith Cylar keep up the struggle,
I thought to myself, thinking of
the chant from his funeral civil disobedience in 2004,
46-years-old too young.
I was going to meet historian and
veteran of Gay Activist Alliance Jonathan Ned Katz and members of ACT UP at
Julius.
I never found Katz, who decided to walk on his own.
He’d been profiled by Masha
Gessen in the New Yorker earlier in the week.
“…it was nice to be with other
people—it felt good” - that could have
been the theme on Sunday; it felt
good to connect
with everyone from my city of
friends, without being separated, told when or where to depart.
The first person I ran into was
Arni Kantrowitz, whose account of the early days of the Gay Activist Alliance, Under
the Rainbow, is one of the best movement stories I’ve ever read.
From Julius, members of ACT UP walked to Sheridan Square.
where we’d trace the route of the
original route of the
1970
Christopher Street Liberation Day
March of 1970, all the way up 6th Avenue, ending with a rally in Central Park's
Great Lawn
ACT UP member Carlos Valentin gave
me a pin for ACT UP legend Andy Velez.
“Andy Velez keep up the struggle!”
we chanted marching.
“Andy Velez keep up the struggle!”
recalling his years and years, decade after decade with the group, odd not to
have him marching with us.
But somehow he was.
So was Bob.
So was Keith.
So
was Sylvia.
ACT UP alumni held photos and signs
of fallen ACT UP members and others who have died of AIDS. From Bob Rafsky, to
Kiki Mason, to Katrina Haslip, to Hugh Steers, to Marsha P. Johnson, to Keith
Haring, “let us remember them all and honor them with action” wrote Jason
Rosenberg.
Members of ACT UP carried signs for
representing the at least 17 HIV+ asylum seekers that died in ICE custody Roxsana Hernandez and Johanna "Joa" Medina are two
HIV+ trans women that died in ICE custody.
ACT UP passed out flyers demanding
ICE is abolished, that ICE ends the detention and abuse of queer, trans, and
HIV positive asylum seekers.
One man in ACT UP told me about meeting Andy Velez for the first time.
Another told
me 25 years ago he was on his
deathbed; he had no idea he’d make it to
Stonewall 50.
But he made it.
Walking up to Central Park, I
talked with most everyone I know.
My neighbors, fellow union members,
activists from all over the city, walking without the usual barricades
separating the crowd from the spectators.
Few police to be seen.
JC pulled Randy Wicker of the
Mattachine Society.
Steven Love was roller skating, with his Peace sign.
The Revolting Lesbians marched with
the Rude Mechanical Orchestra.
“Why are you here, asked my friend,
I mean I know but…”
“This march is about fighting
fascism, fighting racism, fighting for sexual freedom.”
Uptown we walked, greeting Jim, a
veteran of the riots.
And held a moment of silence to
stand silently as we remember those we’ve lost.
Walking with Leslie and Ken, up and
into the park, where we’ve met so many times before,
At antiwar, peace, no nukes
rallies.
Andrew Boyd was there, sitting with
us.
None of us planned to meet but we
knew we’d be there.
Old friends all part of an abundant
movement for a more caring world.
Here we were in the park again, listening,
wondering, hanging out, resting our
tired feet,
‘Your
rainbow doesn’t mean shit if you are not doing the right thing by sex workers,”
noted Cecelia Gentili, of Decrim NY, a coalition of more than 30 sex
worker, legal, harm reduction, LGBTQIA+ and health groups, that recently
launched an official campaign for decriminalization and an end to incarceration
andone
of the speakers at the rally.
Olympia Sudan recalled Sylvia and thanked the crowd for taking the time for Black Trans Women.
Olympia Sudan recalled Sylvia and thanked the crowd for taking the time for Black Trans Women.
“”For some of us, it doesn’t get
better. If you are locked up in a cell
it doesn’t get better. It is no
liberation when we have ICE, when we have Rikers.
Sex work is work.
“Ain’t no respectabililty if sex
workers are locked up.”
Before the rally Leslie Cagan wrote:
“24 hours from now thousands of
people will be gathering for the Queer Liberation March, the alternative to the
Heritage of Pride/World Pride Parade. I’ll be there - will you join?
We will take to the streets to
honor those who were part of the Stonewall Rebellion 50 years ago. Tomorrow, we
will demand an end to the ongoing and often deadly assaults on our
communities, and we welcome the participation of everyone! If you
are queer (however you define that) then this march is for you. If you have had
it with the assaults on so many communities, the attacks on the hard-won gains
of social movements over many decades, the threats of war and the undermining
of democracy then this march is for you.
“The Queer Liberation March is a people’s political
march—no corporate floats, and no police in our march. Please see our statement on Why We March. We honor the powerful
legacy of the Stonewall Rebellion by highlighting the most marginalized members
of our community, as we commit to addressing the ongoing struggles that we
face..”
“Everyone is welcome to join the March at any point. The
March is free, legal and safe, with no pre-registration or wristbands required.”
None of us are free till all of us are
free.
Before his death, Bob reminded us of this point, the Stonewall spirit, which echoed from movement to movement.
Before his death, Bob reminded us of this point, the Stonewall spirit, which echoed from movement to movement.
