Illustrated by Coral Utnehmer/FEM
This article was originally published in our Internewsmag 2022 print issue “Los Angeles.”
Content warning: queerphobia, racism, sexual harassment
Picture this: it’s June 28, 1970, nearly a year after the monumental Stonewall riots, and you’re attending the first Pride Parade in New York City. Except it’s not a parade, and it’s not entirely about Pride: it’s the Christopher Street Liberation Day March. Here, we recognize the familiar names of Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, and the lesser known names of the march’s organizers Craig Rodwell, Fred Sargeant, Ellen Broidy, Linda Rhodes, Brenda Howard, and many more. Unlike today’s Pride Parade, this march in New York was dedicated to Gay Liberation in the forms of political speeches, demonstrations, and gay visibility.
The Stonewall riots started at 3 a.m. on June 28, 1969, when customers at the Stonewall Inn, a space that welcomed the misfits of the queer community like trans women and unhoused youth, resisted two police officer’s demands to prove their sex through physical examinations. The patrons at Stonewall had enough of police raiding their safe spaces and rioted in protest of the laws and legislation that allowed for homophobia, transphobia, and other discriminatory practices. Though the Stonewall riots weren’t the first of their kind, they were one of the most monumental, historically speaking; the riots went for six days and involved thousands of rioters and protestors.
To keep the momentum of the riots, a group of activists known as the Gay Liberation Front organized marches and rallies in commemoration of the Stonewall riots’ anniversary. The most notable took place in New York City on Christopher Street, where the Stonewall riots started. Unlike these marches and rallies, Los Angeles differed: Reverend Bob Humphries, Morris Kight, Reverend Troy Perry, and the Christopher Street West Association successfully got a parade permit from Los Angeles Police Department, making this the first official Pride Parade permitted in the country. The American Civil Liberties Union became involved after the commission granted the permit under the unfair condition that organizers would have to pay over a million dollars for “future property damages,” as well as police protection. With the help of the ACLU, the organizers were granted the permit for under two thousand dollars.
Thanks to social media and the Internet, the origins, history, and importance of Pride have become more accessible. Additionally, because of them, LGBTQ+ Pride does not solely exist isolated within the community nor its heritage month of June.
As we approach June this year, we are reminded of LGBTQ+ Pride Month through corporations’ Pride merchandise drops. While it is great to find pride in wearing a rainbow polo shirt or a crop top that references a Sappho poem, rainbow capitalism, also known as pinkwashing, is usually a form of performative activism because corporations often advertise Pride while neglecting to support the community they are profiting from.
Though we mustn’t disregard this corporate insincerity, we have to acknowledge the privilege of living in a city, a state, a country where corporations can, and are encouraged to, advertise the rainbow flag (often as to not face backlash for their lack of support). We must find a balance within rainbow capitalism and queer communities, so that corporations don’t continue to solely profit from the rich or feed off of the culture of LGBTQ+ BIPOC who are less likely to be employed or hold (generational) wealth. After all, much of popular culture comes from queer communities, specifically Black and Brown queer communities, including the origins of “queer slang” which come directly from African American Vernacular English — “voguing” comes from ballroom culture, and the term “camp” comes from Black and Brown drag queens.
Speaking of intersectionality, it is fundamental to understand the importance of not having a police presence at Pride events. Police historically and currently commit violence against minority groups, especially Black people. The institution of the police and military is essentially anti-queer and anti-why-Pride-began-in-the-first-place. The origins of Pride are riots against an oppressive government, its anti-queer legislation, and the police who enforce it. The incorporation of police into Pride events intensifies the racial divide in our community by making our spaces hostile and exclusionary to BIPOC individuals, especially those who are transgender, and caters to white cisgender gay men, who are less likely to be targeted by police. Together, both rainbow capitalism and police presence at Pride are attempts at forced assimilation of the LGBTQ+ (emphasis on the G) community into the cisheteronormative society our government and capitalism ascribe to.
This all goes to say: why is (LA) Pride so important this year, specifically?
America today continues to observe anti-queer and anti-trans legislation. Since 2022 started, over 134 anti-trans legislations across 34 states in the US have circulated, like Texas’ order to investigate transgender children’s gender-affirming care as abuse. Additionally, over 238 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been proposed in nearly 40 states, such as “Don’t Say Gay” Bill that started in Florida and is now spreading to other states. Furthermore, with the potential overturn of Roe v. Wade, queer rights are in even more danger.
California is one of the most progressive states in terms of LGBTQ+ legislation, which means the country will be watching the state for counter-legislation. Recently, Los Angeles County banned government-funded travel to Texas and Florida over their anti-queer legislation. California legislators introduced a bill to grant refuge for trans youth and their families being prosecuted for accessing gender-affirming care. Being a spearhead in LGBTQ+ legislation, California must continue on this progressive and productive path through its Pride parades and events. This means that Pride parades in California, especially the LA Pride Parade, should join in excluding police presences from events, just as New York City has until the year 2025. Similarly, organizers should develop plans to make Pride less capital-centric, allowing for more speeches, demonstrations, and activities led by and for queer BIPOC individuals. However, this year specifically, LA Pride organizers removed the free community day, which begs the question: why is an event that should celebrate and represent all queer people behind a steep paywall?
LA Pride should be a space that is welcome to all marginalized identities and communities, especially people of color as 49% of Los Angeles County is Latine, 16% is Asian, and 9% is Black. In its queer fashion of breaking down norms and expectations, Pride should be a place where people can celebrate their identities and lives, not be excluded based on their sexual orientation, gender, class, race, ability, or any other factor that is oppressed by our society. Pride must return to its origins, commemorate the injustices faced by our queer siblings, and, in the face of society’s hate, show ourselves for who we are: queer, loving, inspiring, irrevocably loud, and most of all, joyous.
This year, LA Pride takes place on June 11th and 12th, and the LA Pride Parade will take place on Sunday in Hollywood, its historic roots. Performing at “LA Pride in the Park” are Christina Aguilera, Anitta, Michaela Jaé, and others.
OutWrite Newsmagazine will have a booth Saturday the 11th, so please come by; we will be selling our previous print editions, our Spring 2022 issue “Reflections of Radiance,” and merchandise designed by our team.
Credits:
Author: Giulianna Vicente (She/Her)
Artist: Coral Utnehmer