If you have not heard, a recent protest turned riot has sparked national outrage and incited more like it across the nation. This protest was a rejection of the 2020 United States’ Electoral College Presidential Election results, the protest took place at the capitol building. The “insurrection” led to the death of five people, and a lasting impression on what America is forever. The state of American politics is in shambles, but don’t let it take you by surprise, historically our politics have never been stable. Our country was started on the idea of revolution, so of course that is the first reaction for many. In this article, I want to talk about the history of LGBTQ+ protests, and how we are more similar than different.
I would not be able to be writing, to be able to just be, without protest. One of the most well-known protests, within the LGBTQ+ community, is The Stonewall Uprising of 1969. During this time queer people’s safe spaces were raided, and while Stonewall was not the first, the raid that took place began a revolution. On June 28th, 1969 a raid had taken place at The Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, NYC. These safe spaces were even more violated during this time with the New York State Liquor Authority penalizing and shut down establishments that served alcohol to known or suspected LGBT individuals, arguing that the mere gathering of homosexuals was “disorderly.” Stonewall was the straw that broke the camel’s back, this caused a riot between the authorities and patrons/ worker/neighborhoods surrounding the bar. The people, exhausted from the discrimantion, began to throw bottles, pennies, bricks, or anything that they could find. The protest lasted for six days and in the end the LGBTQ+ community was finally being heard. Stonewall was not the only protest, but it is the one that catapulted our rights into a political sphere. It’s long lasting impression has given us more safe spaces and organizations ie; GLAAD and PFLAG. People like Marsha P. Johnson, a transgender black woman who supposdley threw the first brick at Stonewall, were leading protests before and after Stonewall. Marsha P. Johnson's ideologies during this time were radical. We often forget the trans women of color who have fought alongside us, taken us in, and where the mother’s many of us did not have, yet trans women of color are the most marginalised group in our community. These protest mainly served cis white gay and lesbian indivudals, but a step up for one is a step up for all. My main point is that protesting, even when it becomes violent, has given many of us the luxuries we have today. No one is heard in this country without using violence.
From the Boston Tea Party to the Riot of Capitol Hill, protests have gotten out of hand since the birth of our country. Yet I have realized there is a difference in reasoning. Last year, amid the death of George Floyd, protests began for the protection of black citizens in the United States. Some protests became violent, something many people on the opposing side ridiculed. Yet, we had a protest at the Capitol that got violent and that had reasoning? The way that protest turns into riots is passion. People let emotions take over, not that this is a bad thing, which leads to violence/damage. I was infuriated when I heard the news surrounding the riot at the Capitol. However, I have learned to take a step back and think. While the reasoning for the protests that happened last year versus last week are very different, there was one similarity. Passion. These people were passionate on both sides about their beliefs. Now, I am no way condoning violence or agreeing with why the people who protested the Capitol protest but, I have tried to put myself in their shoes. I have tried to put myself in the shoes of those at Stonewall. The history behind protesting has given us, the country we live in and the rights we take for granted.
Resources:
History.com Editors. (2017, June 28). Gay Rights. Retrieved January 12, 2021, from https://www.history.com/topics/gay-rights/history-of-gay-rights#section_5
Photo: Same source as above.
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