Who is Pride Really For?
It’s been 55 years since the riots took place at Stonewall Inn, a dive bar on NYC’s Christopher St. in Greenwich Village. These riots were about oppression and inequity, specifically from cops busting patrons under anti-cross-dressing laws. The riots were about marginalized people who were ignored, discriminated against and/or brutalized by police and society – through its structures, rules, religions, and laws. It was about people pushed too far, or too hard, for perhaps too long, until they pushed back. Stonewall 50th anniversary documentary film maker Shane O’Neill said, “Stonewall was about people reclaiming their own narratives from those that told them they were sick, or pitiful, or didn’t even exist.”
In 2024 Pride is a household word and corporations’ rainbow washing has become divisive; people are speaking out against the corporatization of Pride and performative virtue signaling to turn a profit. However, some laud the progress that corporate Pride campaigns convey – the splashy TV campaigns and omnipresent flags mean visibility and a shift in social acceptance. Whatever your opinion of how Pride has evolved over the past five decades, its entry into mainstream society is undeniable.
When I think of Pride today, however, I wonder whose narratives are being heard? Accounts vary on how the riot started on Christopher St.; some accounts recall Martha P. Johnson, a Black trans woman, and others cite Storme DeLarverie, a gender non-conforming lesbian, standing up to police brutality. It’s notable that people with these identities have often been ignored or discriminated against both within and without the queer community so many years after the Stonewall riots.
It’s only been in recent years that culture has incorporated language to describe the experiences and identities of transgender, gender-non-conforming, genderqueer, gender fluid and other non-binary folks. Transgender and gender diverse people are at increased risk for discrimination, abuse, violence, substance misuse, and suicidal ideation, among others. They lack access to healthcare. It’s time to amplify these narratives.
Pride is a time to consider the acronym LGBTQIA+ and seek out the voices who are often not heard. This includes addressing biphobia and bierasure within the queer community and advocating for intersex and Ace (asexual identifying) folks’ experiences. It’s about embodying the essence of the word “queer “– to question what has been considered acceptable and right and rigid within a flawed and inequitable society, to challenge and expand so new narratives can be created.
