Dear Anne,
Pride this year feels a lot different from last year, which makes sense given the context of America experiencing the tandem public health crises of racist police brutality and COVID-19. I'm white and gay, and am wondering if SURJ has suggestions for ways to show up this month in a way that celebrates my queer identity but also is in solidarity with the movement for Black lives?
– Queer in the Capital
Dear Queer in the Capital,
First of all, Happy Pride! As you may already know, this year is the 50th Anniversary of annual LGBTQ+ traditions—with the first Pride March occurring in New York City in June of 1970, commemorating the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. The Stonewall Uprising, or the Stonewall Riots, began when the New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay club, and Trans and queer people like Stormé DeLarverie fought back. With the leadership and courage of Trans women of color including Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, the uprising led to days of protests against police violence and the criminalization of Trans and queer folx.
The Stonewall Uprising, led by Black and POC Trans women, shows us that the tradition of Pride is deeply rooted in collective action against an unjust police system. And while there have been many advances in the movement for LGBTQ+ rights, we are still seeing the need for continued collective action against a police system and carceral state that disproportionately commits violence against black and indigenous people of color and trans individuals.
The deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery sparked widespread protests around the world, but activists and prison abolitionists have long known the history of racialized police violence. America’s police force was born out of slave patrols of the 18th and 19th centuries and today police officers use force against Black individuals seven times more often than against whites, and Black men are 3.5 times more likely than whites to be killed by law enforcement.
But what activists working at the intersection of racial and LGBTQ+ equality also know is that the murders of Black Trans individuals—including Tony McDade, Nina Pop, Riah Milton, Dominique Fells, and Monika Diamond—are too often overlooked. As of 2013, transgender people of color were six times more likely to experience police violence than white cisgender people. Violence against Trans individuals is also rampant in jails and prisons—transgender people are ten times as likely to by sexually assaulted by other incarcerated individuals compared to cisgender people.
We at SURJ DC encourage you to celebrate your queer identity by listening to and amplifying the voices of Trans and queer BIPOC activists, educators, artists, and authors and to encourage your friends to do the same! Here are some other ideas for how to commemorate the spirit of Pride—this month and beyond:
Learn more about the intersections of queer liberation and prison abolition. Because America’s educational curriculum is deeply influenced by the compounding systems of white supremacy, patriarchy, and heteronormativity, it’s likely that you didn’t get a comprehensive look at the history of the carceral state and how it manifests today. Deepen your learning by checking out books like Queer (In)Justice: The Criminalization of LGBT People in the United States, Are Prisons Obsolete? and Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex.
Read books (of all kinds!) by Trans and queer BIPOC. It’s important to read books about the systems that oppress Trans and queer people of color, but at the same time it’s important to not pigeonhole queer authors and authors of color solely as educators on oppression. Celebrate the diversity of Trans and queer POC’s creative works by checking out the books on these lists from Book Riot, Bitch Media, and Medium.
Call the DC Council. Call the number 202-350-1362 and tell the DC Council to divest from police and invest in Black lives. Download and print the flyer from Erik Martinez Resly and check out the DC Budget Testimony Guidelines and Talking Points from the Stop Police Terror Project and SURJ DC.
Redistribute your resources. Are you spending less money these days on Metro or iced coffee? A powerful way to show solidarity is to channel your money to frontline organizations led by LQBTQ+ individuals and BIPOC. Here are a few local to DC, but The Cut has also put together a list of organizations across the country.
No Justice No Pride is a collective of organizers in DC fighting for Trans justice and to end the LGBT “equality” movement’s complicity with systems of oppression that further marginalize Trans and Queer individuals. A part of this work is to return to the roots of pride by organizing to decriminalize sex work in DC and defund the DC Metro Police Department. Follow their work on Instagram @nojusticenopride, on Twitter @NJNP_DC and via #DefundMPD, #DefundDCPolice, and #DecrimNowDC. Contribute a one-time donation or donate on a monthly basis.
Smyal (Supporting and Mentoring Youth Advocates and Leaders) empowers LGBTQ+ youth in the greater DMV region. The organizations provides youth trainings, and as well as adult cultural competency trainings. Volunteer with Smyal or make a contribution to their work.
Theythem Collective is an abolitionist group working towards queer, trans, black, brown, and indigenous liberation. Follow their work on Instagram @theythemcollective and support their work.
Black Lives Matter DC is the official DC chapter of the BLM Global Network. Follow their work on Instagram @blacklivesmatterdc and on Twitter @DMVBlackLives and make a recurring contribution to fund the movement.
Freedom Fighters DC is a predominantly Black-led group of activists advocating to #DefundThePolice. Follow their work on Instagram @freedomfightersdc to learn more about their actions and what items they are requesting in donations.
BYP 100 is dedicated to improving the lived experiences of Black people. Central to our direct action and issue advocacy work is the need to ensure that we have funds to support not only the work, but the people who put their lives and freedom on the line.
In solidarity,
Anne
“Ask Anne” is a project of SURJ DC to help answer questions about race, racism, and white supremacy. Our goal is to take labor off people of color, make the anti-racist movement more accessible, and bring more white people into racial justice work in DC. Anne Braden (1924-2006) was a white anti-racist organizer, journalist, and educator in racial justice movements in the South. She worked from the perspective that white people have a self-interest in dismantling white supremacy. We hope to honor her legacy with Ask Anne. See the Anne Braden institute for Social Justice Research page for additional resources about Anne.
Are you a white person living in DC with questions about race, racism, or white supremacy? Write to us at surjdc+askanne@gmail.com with your question, a preferred pseudonym, and subject line “Ask Anne.” Your name will not be printed. We’ll publish a selection monthly.