Forty-five years ago tomorrow, just after midnight, when the NYPD raided the Stonewall Inn, the police handcuffed transgender women, sex workers, and homeless youth, who were herded out of the bar and loaded into paddy wagons.
That was all routine. What was not routine was that the people being rounded up fought back.
TransJustice, sponsored by the Audre Lorde Project celebrated today as the 10th Annual Trans Day of Action for Social and Economic Justice, gathering at Christopher Street Pier from 2pm to 5pm. Representing Trans and Gender Non-Conforming (TGNC) People of Color, TransJustice insists, among other items, that it is time for TGNC people to take back Stonewall from its whitewashed history.
We live in a time when oppressed peoples including people of color, immigrants, youth and elders, people with disabilities, women and TGNC people, and poor people are underserved, face higher levels of discrimination, heightened surveillance and experience increased violence at the hands of the state. We must unite and work together towards dismantling the transphobia, racism, classism, sexism, ageism, ableism, homophobia and xenophobia that permeates our movements for social justice, while also celebrating the victories and strides for the rights of TGNC POC. Let’s come together to let the world know that TGNC rights will not be undermined and together we will not be silenced!
Some demands have been issued:
1. We demand an end to profiling, harassment and brutality at the hands of the police.
2. We demand access to respectful and safe housing.
3. We demand access to the NYC LGBT Center without fear of harassment, or censorship.
4. We demand the full legalization of all immigrants.
5. We are in solidarity with all prisoners, especially the many TGNC POC people behind the walls.
6. We oppose the US “War on Terrorism” as an excuse to legitimize the expansion of the U.S. as an imperial super power and to justify a national security strategy that is really meant to militarize our borders and heighten surveillance and control over people living in the U.S., separating our communities by fostering feelings of hate, xenophobia, and violence.
7. We demand health care.
8. We demand safety while utilizing public transportation.
9. We demand that all people receiving public assistance be treated with respect and dignity.
10. We demand that TGNC POC people have equal access to employment and education opportunities.
11. We demand justice for the many TGNC POC who have been beaten, assaulted, raped, and murdered.
Especially stuck in the craw this year is a film being made about the Stonewall Rebellion, Stonewall by Roland Emmerich, a film in which every actor associated with the project is said to be a cisgender white man. Trans women of color like Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera who were crucial to the riot are totally excluded from the screenplay.
You can assist TransJustice here.
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…in the Stonewall Rebellion has not been greatly appreciated by the “mainstream” LGBT community…and the fact that our needs always take a back street to the needs of that mainstream is therefore vastly disappointing.